- Great circle
- 8,690 km
- 5,400 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 11h 18m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 50.0°N
- at 0% along
- One lap of Earth
- 21.7%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 69th longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From Frankfurt the path crosses Germany, then Italy, then 978 km of open water, then Libya, then Chad, then the Central African Republic, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then Zambia, then Zimbabwe, then Botswana, then South Africa.
The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 50.0°N, 0% of the way along.
Holding a single compass bearing the whole way would cover almost exactly the same ground, so on this route the flat map and the globe agree.
Leaving Frankfurt the aircraft points south (162°); it arrives into Johannesburg heading south (167°). That is 5° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.
JNB
O.R. Tambo
Johannesburg, South Africa · Africa
26.1°S, 28.2°E
Frankfurt to Johannesburg, asked and answered
- How far is Frankfurt to Johannesburg?
- Frankfurt to Johannesburg (FRA to JNB) is 8,690 km, or 5,400 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg?
- About 11h 18m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.
- What route does a Frankfurt to Johannesburg flight take?
- The great circle passes over Germany, then Italy, then 978 km of open water, then Libya, then Chad, then the Central African Republic, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then Zambia, then Zimbabwe, then Botswana, then South Africa. It reaches 50.0°N at its furthest from the equator.
Where these numbers come from
Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.
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