Flight distance calculator (coordinates)

Enter the coordinates of the departure and arrival points to get the straight-line distance over the Earth and the initial heading.

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Processing and privacy: The result is calculated inside your browser and your data is not sent to any server.

How to use it

  1. Enter departure latitude, departure longitude, arrival latitude and arrival longitude.
  2. The result appears straight away and updates as you edit.
  3. Copy the result, or copy a link that keeps the same values to share it.

How it is calculated

a = sin²(Δφ/2) + cos φ1 × cos φ2 × sin²(Δλ/2); distance = 2R × atan2(√a, √(1−a)) with R = 6371.0088 km, the mean Earth radius. 1 mile = 1.609344 km, 1 nautical mile = 1.852 km.

Example

Inputs: Departure latitude = 24.7136 °, Departure longitude = 46.6753 °, Arrival latitude = 30.0444 °, Arrival longitude = 31.2357 °. Result: Distance: 1,633.8 km; In miles: 1,015.2 mi; In nautical miles: 882.2 nmi.

Limits and caveats

  • The formula treats the Earth as a sphere, which can differ from the true shape by about 0.5%.
  • Actual flight paths are usually longer because of air corridors and weather.

Questions about this tool

Where do I get a city's coordinates?

In Google Maps, long-press the spot. The first number is latitude and the second is longitude.

Why is this shorter than the road distance?

It is a straight line over the Earth's surface, while roads bend around terrain and towns.

What does the initial bearing mean?

It is the angle clockwise from north at the departure point: 90 is east and 270 is west.