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IST → DXB

Istanbul to Dubai: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

İstanbul to Dubai is 3,030 km of great circle — 1,883 mi — and an estimated 4h 16m in the air. It crosses from Europe to Asia.

Great circle
3,030 km
1,883 mi
Estimated in the air
4h 16m
block time
Furthest from equator
41.3°N
at 0% along
One lap of Earth
7.6%
of 40,075 km

Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 168th longest.

The Istanbul to Dubai route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

What the aircraft actually flies over

From Istanbul the path crosses Turkey, then Syria, then Iraq, then Iran, then 379 km of open water.

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.

Leaving Istanbul the aircraft points south-east (118°); it arrives into Dubai heading south-east (133°). That is 15° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.

From

IST

İstanbul

Istanbul, Turkey · Europe

41.3°N, 28.7°E

To

DXB

Dubai

Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Asia

25.2°N, 55.4°E

Istanbul to Dubai, asked and answered

How far is Istanbul to Dubai?
Istanbul to Dubai (IST to DXB) is 3,030 km, or 1,883 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
How long is the flight from Istanbul to Dubai?
About 4h 16m 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 Dubai flight take?
The great circle passes over Turkey, then Syria, then Iraq, then Iran, then 379 km of open water. 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 →

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