--- title: "Johannesburg to Cape Town (JNB → CPT): distance and flight time · Orbit" description: "Johannesburg to Cape Town is 1,272 km (790 mi) great circle, an estimated 2h 05m 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/jnb-to-cpt --- JNB → CPT # Johannesburg to Cape Town: distance, flight time and the route it really takes O.R. Tambo to Cape Town is 1,272 km of great circle — 790 mi — and an estimated 2h 05m in the air. Both ends are in Africa. **Great circle** 1,272 km 790 mi **Estimated in the air** 2h 05m block time **Furthest from equator** 34.0°S at 100% along **One lap of Earth** 3.2% of 40,075 km Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 233rd longest. The Johannesburg to Cape Town route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe ## What the aircraft actually flies over From Johannesburg the path crosses South Africa. The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 34.0°S, 100% 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-west out of Johannesburg, south-west into Cape Town. Over this distance the curve has too little room to bend the compass. One economy seat on it is about 189 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming. [JNB–CPT carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=JNB&to=CPT) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=JNB-CPT) From JNB ## O.R. Tambo Johannesburg, South Africa · Africa 26.1°S, 28.2°E [JNB airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/jnb) [Flights to Johannesburg →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/johannesburg) To CPT ## Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa · Africa 34.0°S, 18.6°E [CPT airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/cpt) ## Johannesburg to Cape Town, asked and answered **How far is Johannesburg to Cape Town?** Johannesburg to Cape Town (JNB to CPT) is 1,272 km, or 790 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports. **How long is the flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town?** About 2h 05m 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 Johannesburg to Cape Town flight take?** The great circle passes over South Africa. It reaches 34.0°S 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 [JNB → NBO Johannesburg to Nairobi 2,912 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jnb-to-nbo) [JNB → MRU Johannesburg to Mauritius 3,066 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jnb-to-mru) [DXB → JNB Dubai to Johannesburg 6,413 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/dxb-to-jnb) [IST → JNB Istanbul to Johannesburg 7,496 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/ist-to-jnb) [FRA → JNB Frankfurt to Johannesburg 8,690 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/fra-to-jnb) [LHR → JNB London to Johannesburg 9,075 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-jnb) ## 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/jnb-to-cpt for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt