Washington (IAD) – Houston (IAH)

Distance, flight time and the airlines that fly it, from open data.
Distance
1,915 km
1,190 mi · 1,034 nm
Flight time
3 h 18 min / 3 h 2 min
Average gate to gate: IAD → IAH / back
Time difference
1 h
CO2 per passenger
241 kg
One way, economy, incl. RF (142 kg CO2 only)
Passengers / year
522,211
Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +0.0%
Flights / week
73
Both directions, average
Seats filled
83%
631,458 seats a year
Airlines nonstop
2
UA, C5

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

Great circle from IAD to IAHIADIAH
Shortest path over the earth's surface (great circle). Real flights bend around weather, winds and airspace.

The way there

Heading from IAD
244°
Heading from IAH
54°
Halfway point
34.79, -86.88
Great-circle km
1,913 km (sphere, for EU261)
In the air IAD → IAH
2 h 46 min
In the air IAH → IAD
2 h 31 min
Clocks
Houston is 1 h behind Washington

The estimate for a route without real times is 3 h 5 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.

Passengers per month, both directions (Aug 2025 – Jul 2026)Busiest: June 2026: 53,496 passengers
020K40K60KAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJun53.5KJul
Show as a table
Month Passengers
Aug 202548,294
Sep 202548,292
Oct 202546,331
Nov 202540,851
Dec 202542,059
Jan 202635,089
Feb 202631,288
Mar 202639,588
Apr 202641,309
May 202647,234
Jun 202653,496
Jul 202648,380
Flights per month, both directions (Aug 2025 – Jul 2026)Busiest: September 2025: 388 flights
0200400AugSep388OctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJunJul
Show as a table
Month Flights
Aug 2025354
Sep 2025388
Oct 2025360
Nov 2025300
Dec 2025283
Jan 2026256
Feb 2026228
Mar 2026295
Apr 2026295
May 2026333
Jun 2026364
Jul 2026329

Airlines flying IAD–IAH nonstop

Airline Flights / week Share of passengers
UAUnited Air Lines72
100%
C5CommuteAir LLC dba CommuteAir0.3
0%

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 737-900ER · 1,567 flights
  • Boeing 737-800 · 552 flights
  • Boeing B737 Max 900 · 547 flights
  • Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 291 flights
  • Boeing B737 Max 800 · 272 flights
  • Airbus Industrie A319 · 267 flights
  • Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 204 flights
  • Boeing 757-200 · 35 flights

Also carried: 568 tonnes of freight and 32 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).

Punctuality

On time
82.8%
Arrived within 15 min of schedule
Average delay
12 min
Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
Cancelled
0.4%
Flights counted
3,744
Aug 2025 – Jul 2026

Delay minutes by cause: airline 31% · aircraft arriving late 31% · air traffic system 32% · weather 7% · security 0%.

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
$342
One way, all cabins
Average over a year
$307
Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
Largest airline
United Air Lines
96% of passengers · $345
Lowest-fare airline
Frontier Airlines
2% of passengers · $148

History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $299 · Q3 2025 $285 · Q4 2025 $313 · Q1 2026 $342).

Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $349, likely $302–$398

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 4.4%). 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: Q4, 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: 1,913 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 Houston

Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Washington airports · All Houston airports

More routes from IAD

Route Distance Passengers / year
IAD → DEN2,338 km 1,152,959
IAD → SFO3,893 km 960,713
IAD → ATL859 km 930,968
IAD → LAX3,682 km 840,081
IAD → LHR5,917 km 800,971
IAD → MCO1,219 km 670,690
IAD → FRA6,567 km 626,765
IAD → SAL3,048 km 617,085
IAD → ORD947 km 592,426
IAD → DFW1,886 km 527,017

More routes from IAH

Route Distance Passengers / year
IAH → ORD1,489 km 1,711,056
IAH → DEN1,387 km 1,641,444
IAH → LAX2,219 km 1,544,652
IAH → ATL1,109 km 1,430,755
IAH → DFW361 km 1,257,452
IAH → SFO2,632 km 1,223,236
IAH → MCO1,375 km 1,147,728
IAH → EWR2,252 km 1,135,261
IAH → LGA2,279 km 1,049,227
IAH → LAS1,966 km 1,028,809

Questions

Washington (IAD) and Houston (IAH) are 1,915 km (1,190 miles, 1,034 nautical miles) apart, measured along the shortest path over the earth's surface.