Washington (DCA) – St. Louis (STL)
- Distance
- 1,157 km
- 719 mi · 625 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 19 min / 1 h 57 min
- Average gate to gate: DCA → STL / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 145 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (86 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 400,695
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −6.3%
- Flights / week
- 90
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 68%
- 585,510 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 5
- WN, OH, AA
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DCA
- 274°
- Heading from STL
- 85°
- Halfway point
- 38.99, -83.71
- Great-circle km
- 1,154 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DCA → STL
- 1 h 52 min
- In the air STL → DCA
- 1 h 36 min
- Clocks
- St. Louis is 1 h behind Washington
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h 10 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 36,767 |
| Sep 2025 | 37,036 |
| Oct 2025 | 40,041 |
| Nov 2025 | 30,547 |
| Dec 2025 | 32,592 |
| Jan 2026 | 23,846 |
| Feb 2026 | 23,123 |
| Mar 2026 | 33,119 |
| Apr 2026 | 32,582 |
| May 2026 | 35,019 |
| Jun 2026 | 37,418 |
| Jul 2026 | 38,605 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 390 |
| Sep 2025 | 430 |
| Oct 2025 | 445 |
| Nov 2025 | 407 |
| Dec 2025 | 401 |
| Jan 2026 | 368 |
| Feb 2026 | 344 |
| Mar 2026 | 387 |
| Apr 2026 | 385 |
| May 2026 | 387 |
| Jun 2026 | 382 |
| Jul 2026 | 374 |
Airlines flying DCA–STL nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 53 | 72% |
| OHPSA Airlines | 22 | 15% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 6.7 | 7% |
| YXRepublic Airline | 8.1 | 5% |
| MQEnvoy Air | 0.8 | 1% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 1,621 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 723 flights
- Canadair CRJ 900 · 607 flights
- Canadair RJ-700 · 522 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 464 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 417 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 338 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 3 flights
Also carried: 55 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 73.5%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 20 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 2.5%
- Flights counted
- 4,830
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 74.2% | 16 min |
| OHPSA Airlines | 70.8% | 28 min |
| YXRepublic Airline | 76.5% | 17 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 71.6% | 26 min |
| MQEnvoy Air | 81.4% | 7 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 33% · aircraft arriving late 45% · air traffic system 17% · weather 4% · security 1%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $249
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $218
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 73% of passengers · $238
- Lowest-fare airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 73% of passengers · $238
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $205 · Q3 2025 $200 · Q4 2025 $229 · Q1 2026 $249).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $254, likely $220–$290
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 90% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 4.9%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q1, typically 3% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 1,154 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Washington and St. Louis
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Washington airports