--- title: "Istanbul to Cairo (IST → CAI): distance and flight time · Orbit" description: "Istanbul to Cairo is 1,264 km (786 mi) great circle, an estimated 2h 04m in the air. The route, what it flies over, and why the short way is not the straight line on a map." url: https://orbitflights.app/routes/ist-to-cai --- IST → CAI # Istanbul to Cairo: distance, flight time and the route it really takes İstanbul to Cairo is 1,264 km of great circle — 786 mi — and an estimated 2h 04m in the air. It crosses from Europe to Africa. **Great circle** 1,264 km 786 mi **Estimated in the air** 2h 04m block time **Furthest from equator** 41.3°N at 0% along **One lap of Earth** 3.2% of 40,075 km Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 235th longest. The Istanbul to Cairo route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe ## What the aircraft actually flies over From Istanbul the path crosses Turkey, then 531 km of open water, then Egypt. The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 41.3°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. The heading barely moves: south out of Istanbul, south into Cairo. Over this distance the curve has too little room to bend the compass. One economy seat on it is about 187 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming. [IST–CAI carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=IST&to=CAI) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=IST-CAI) From IST ## İstanbul Istanbul, Turkey · Europe 41.3°N, 28.7°E [IST airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/ist) [Flights to Istanbul →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/istanbul) To CAI ## Cairo Cairo, Egypt · Africa 30.1°N, 31.4°E [CAI airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/cai) ## Istanbul to Cairo, asked and answered **How far is Istanbul to Cairo?** Istanbul to Cairo (IST to CAI) is 1,264 km, or 786 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports. **How long is the flight from Istanbul to Cairo?** About 2h 04m 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 Istanbul to Cairo flight take?** The great circle passes over Turkey, then 531 km of open water, then Egypt. It reaches 41.3°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. [Why the shortest path is a curve →](https://orbitflights.app/blog/great-circle-routes-explained) ## Flown this one? Orbit logs it in two taps and draws the arc on your own globe, along with every other flight you can remember. Free for your first 15. [Download now](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qwertybit.orbit) ## Nearby routes [FRA → IST Frankfurt to Istanbul 1,837 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/fra-to-ist) [ATH → IST Athens to Istanbul 553 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/ath-to-ist) [OTP → IST Bucharest to Istanbul 424 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/otp-to-ist) [CDG → IST Paris to Istanbul 2,212 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/cdg-to-ist) [CAI → DXB Cairo to Dubai 2,417 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/cai-to-dxb) [LHR → IST London to Istanbul 2,487 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-ist) ## Further reading [How many miles do you have to fly around the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/how-many-miles-to-fly-around-the-world) [What is on the exact opposite side of the world?](https://orbitflights.app/blog/opposite-side-of-the-world) [What's actually worth counting in a flight log](https://orbitflights.app/blog/what-is-worth-counting-in-a-flight-log) --- Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/ist-to-cai for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt