JetSetAuthority

Route · Europe to Asia and Africa

FRA Frankfurt ⇄ JNB Johannesburg

Frankfurt Main Airport (Germany) and O.R. Tambo International Airport (South Africa): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance8,690 km5,400 mi4,692 nautical miles
FRA → JNB10 h 50 minestimated block time
JNB → FRA11 h 05 minestimated block time
Clock change+1 hJohannesburg vs Frankfurt, today
Great-circle route from Frankfurt (FRA) to Johannesburg (JNB)FRAFrankfurtJNBJohannesburg
The shortest path over the Earth’s surface (great circle), drawn on a Natural Earth projection. Real flight paths bend around weather, winds and closed airspace.

Flight time each way

FRA → JNB

10 h 50 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 162° (SSE).

Leave Frankfurt Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Johannesburg Sat 7 Nov, 21:50 local.

JNB → FRA

11 h 05 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 347° (NNW).

Leave Johannesburg Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Frankfurt Sat 7 Nov, 20:05 local.

The two directions differ by 15 minutes in our estimate: this route runs mostly north–south, so the prevailing westerly winds make little difference. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance8,690 km · 5,400 mi · 4,692 nmi
Initial heading162° (SSE) from FRA; 347° (NNW) from JNB
Farthest from the equator50.0°N
Crossesthe equator
Share of the longest possible trip43% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

FRAEurope/Berlin — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
JNBAfrica/Johannesburg — UTC+2 now; UTC+2 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceJohannesburg is 1 hour ahead of Frankfurt today; +1 h in January and ±0 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying FRA → JNB. Your body clock has to move 1 hour earlier, like an eastward trip. A shift this small rarely causes much jet lag; most people feel normal within a day or so. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

FRA Frankfurt Main AirportFrankfurt, Germany · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m JNB O.R. Tambo International AirportJohannesburg, South Africa · longest runway 14,495 ft4,418 m

More routes from FRA and JNB

FRABER Frankfurt – Berlin 431 km268 mi · 1 h 30 min FRADEL Frankfurt – Delhi 6,122 km3,804 mi · 7 h 25 min ORDFRA Chicago – Frankfurt 6,971 km4,331 mi · 8 h 25 min DFWFRA Dallas–Fort Worth – Frankfurt 8,258 km5,131 mi · 9 h 50 min FRABKK Frankfurt – Bangkok 9,000 km5,593 mi · 10 h 35 min FRASIN Frankfurt – Singapore 10,280 km6,388 mi · 12 h 05 min JNBDUR Johannesburg – Durban 478 km297 mi · 1 h 35 min JNBNBO Johannesburg – Nairobi 2,912 km1,810 mi · 4 h 20 min DXBJNB Dubai – Johannesburg 6,413 km3,985 mi · 8 h 25 min JNBPER Johannesburg – Perth 8,310 km5,163 mi · 9 h 40 min JNBSYD Johannesburg – Sydney 11,024 km6,850 mi · 12 h 35 min ATLJNB Atlanta – Johannesburg 13,583 km8,440 mi · 15 h 55 min

Routes of a similar length

ISTSIN Istanbul – Singapore 8,681 km5,394 mi · 10 h 25 min LHRCMB London – Colombo 8,715 km5,415 mi · 10 h 20 min LAXNRT Los Angeles – Tokyo 8,753 km5,439 mi · 12 h 05 min LAXLHR Los Angeles – London 8,760 km5,443 mi · 10 h 25 min

Need a different pair? The flight-time calculator works for any two of 3,245 airports. Not covered: which airlines fly this route, schedules, fares and live status — that data is proprietary and we don’t guess it.

Photos on airport pages are credited there. Estimates are rounded to 5 minutes; typical error about 13 minutes (validation).