--- title: "Nairobi to Zanzibar (NBO → ZNZ): distance and flight time · Orbit" description: "Nairobi to Zanzibar is 602 km (374 mi) great circle, an estimated 1h 15m 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/nbo-to-znz --- NBO → ZNZ # Nairobi to Zanzibar: distance, flight time and the route it really takes Jomo Kenyatta to Abeid Amani Karume is 602 km of great circle — 374 mi — and an estimated 1h 15m in the air. Both ends are in Africa. **Great circle** 602 km 374 mi **Estimated in the air** 1h 15m block time **Furthest from equator** 6.2°S at 100% along **One lap of Earth** 1.5% of 40,075 km Of the [292 routes catalogued here](https://orbitflights.app/routes), this is the 275th longest. The Nairobi to Zanzibar route drawn as a great circle arc on a globe ## What the aircraft actually flies over From Nairobi the path crosses Kenya, then Tanzania, then 87 km of open water. The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 6.2°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-east out of Nairobi, south-east into Zanzibar. Over this distance the curve has too little room to bend the compass. One economy seat on it is about 89 kg of CO₂e each way, counting non-CO₂ warming. [NBO–ZNZ carbon footprint →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-carbon-calculator?from=NBO&to=ZNZ) [Map this route →](https://orbitflights.app/tools/flight-route-map?r=NBO-ZNZ) From 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) To ZNZ ## Abeid Amani Karume Zanzibar, Tanzania · Africa 6.2°S, 39.2°E [ZNZ airport →](https://orbitflights.app/airports/znz) ## Nairobi to Zanzibar, asked and answered **How far is Nairobi to Zanzibar?** Nairobi to Zanzibar (NBO to ZNZ) is 602 km, or 374 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports. **How long is the flight from Nairobi to Zanzibar?** About 1h 15m 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 Nairobi to Zanzibar flight take?** The great circle passes over Kenya, then Tanzania, then 87 km of open water. It reaches 6.2°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 [NBO → ADD Nairobi to Addis Ababa 1,164 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/nbo-to-add) [JNB → NBO Johannesburg to Nairobi 2,912 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jnb-to-nbo) [DXB → NBO Dubai to Nairobi 3,559 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/dxb-to-nbo) [LHR → NBO London to Nairobi 6,841 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/lhr-to-nbo) [BKK → RGN Bangkok to Yangon 611 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/bkk-to-rgn) [JFK → YYZ New York to Toronto 588 km](https://orbitflights.app/routes/jfk-to-yyz) ## 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/nbo-to-znz for language models and agents. Site index: https://orbitflights.app/llms.txt