Houston (IAH) – New Orleans (MSY)
- Distance
- 490 km
- 304 mi · 264 nm
- Flight time
- 1 h 10 min / 1 h 21 min
- Average gate to gate: IAH → MSY / back
- Time difference
- none
- CO2 per passenger
- 112 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (66 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 664,139
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −8.7%
- Flights / week
- 119
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 70%
- 946,995 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 5
- UA, NK, YV
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 IAH
- 89°
- Heading from MSY
- 271°
- Halfway point
- 30.01, -92.80
- Great-circle km
- 489 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air IAH → MSY
- 46 min
- In the air MSY → IAH
- 55 min
- Clocks
- Same time in both
The estimate for a route without real times is 1 h 25 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 48,656 |
| Sep 2025 | 56,016 |
| Oct 2025 | 65,905 |
| Nov 2025 | 55,227 |
| Dec 2025 | 55,014 |
| Jan 2026 | 45,247 |
| Feb 2026 | 51,195 |
| Mar 2026 | 55,145 |
| Apr 2026 | 57,742 |
| May 2026 | 57,295 |
| Jun 2026 | 58,442 |
| Jul 2026 | 58,255 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 540 |
| Sep 2025 | 564 |
| Oct 2025 | 575 |
| Nov 2025 | 510 |
| Dec 2025 | 495 |
| Jan 2026 | 482 |
| Feb 2026 | 478 |
| Mar 2026 | 525 |
| Apr 2026 | 546 |
| May 2026 | 499 |
| Jun 2026 | 478 |
| Jul 2026 | 475 |
Airlines flying IAH–MSY nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 107 | 93% |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 4.8 | 4% |
| YVMesa Airlines | 5.4 | 2% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 1.0 | 1% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 0.2 | 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 737-900 · 1,078 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 940 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 935 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 813 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 692 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 668 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 343 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 288 flights
Also carried: 65 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 83.2%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 12 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.3%
- Flights counted
- 5,859
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 83.1% | 12 min |
| NKSpirit Air Lines | 84.8% | 11 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 78.8% | 52 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 28% · aircraft arriving late 40% · air traffic system 26% · weather 6% · 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
- $257
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $219
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 93% of passengers · $266
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 6% of passengers · $123
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $206 · Q3 2025 $200 · Q4 2025 $216 · Q1 2026 $257).
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: 489 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 Houston and New Orleans
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Houston airports
More routes from IAH
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| IAH → ORD | 1,489 km | 1,711,056 |
| IAH → DEN | 1,387 km | 1,641,444 |
| IAH → LAX | 2,219 km | 1,544,652 |
| IAH → ATL | 1,109 km | 1,430,755 |
| IAH → DFW | 361 km | 1,257,452 |
| IAH → SFO | 2,632 km | 1,223,236 |
| IAH → MCO | 1,375 km | 1,147,728 |
| IAH → EWR | 2,252 km | 1,135,261 |
| IAH → LGA | 2,279 km | 1,049,227 |
| IAH → LAS | 1,966 km | 1,028,809 |