---
title: "Johannesburg to Nairobi (JNB → NBO): distance and flight time · Orbit"
description: "Johannesburg to Nairobi is 2,912 km (1,810 mi) great circle, an estimated 4h 07m 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-nbo
---

JNB → NBO

# Johannesburg to Nairobi: distance, flight time and the route it really takes

O.R. Tambo to Jomo Kenyatta is 2,912 km of great circle — 1,810 mi — and an estimated 4h 07m in the air. Both ends are in Africa.

**Great circle**
2,912 km
1,810 mi

**Estimated in the air**
4h 07m
block time

**Furthest from equator**
26.1°S
at 0% along

**One lap of Earth**
7.3%
of 40,075 km

Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 170th longest.

The Johannesburg to Nairobi route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe

## What the aircraft actually flies over

From Johannesburg the path crosses South Africa, then Zimbabwe, then Mozambique, then Malawi, then Tanzania, then Kenya.

The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 26.1°S, 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: north out of Johannesburg, north into Nairobi. Over this distance the curve has too little room to bend the compass.

One economy seat on it is about 432 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming.

[JNB–NBO carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=JNB&to=NBO) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=JNB-NBO)

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

NBO

## Jomo Kenyatta

Nairobi, Kenya · Africa

1.3°S, 36.9°E

[NBO airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/nbo) [Flights to Nairobi →](https://orbitflights.app/flights-to/nairobi)

## Johannesburg to Nairobi, asked and answered

**How far is Johannesburg to Nairobi?**
Johannesburg to Nairobi (JNB to NBO) is 2,912 km, or 1,810 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.

**How long is the flight from Johannesburg to Nairobi?**
About 4h 07m 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 Nairobi flight take?**
The great circle passes over South Africa, then Zimbabwe, then Mozambique, then Malawi, then Tanzania, then Kenya. It reaches 26.1°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 → MRU Johannesburg to Mauritius 3,066 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jnb-to-mru) [DXB → NBO Dubai to Nairobi 3,559 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/dxb-to-nbo) [JNB → CPT Johannesburg to Cape Town 1,272 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jnb-to-cpt) [NBO → ADD Nairobi to Addis Ababa 1,164 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/nbo-to-add) [NBO → ZNZ Nairobi to Zanzibar 602 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/nbo-to-znz) [DXB → JNB Dubai to Johannesburg 6,413 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/dxb-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)

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Markdown copy of https://orbitflights.app/routes/jnb-to-nbo for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt