JetSetAuthority

Route · North Atlantic

IAH Houston ⇄ FRA Frankfurt

George Bush Intercontinental Airport (United States) and Frankfurt Main Airport (Germany): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance8,402 km5,221 mi4,537 nautical miles
IAH → FRA9 h 55 minestimated block time
FRA → IAH11 h 25 minestimated block time
Clock change+6 hFrankfurt vs Houston, today
Great-circle route from Houston (IAH) to Frankfurt (FRA)IAHHoustonFRAFrankfurt
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

IAH → FRA

9 h 55 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 40° (NE).

Leave Houston Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Frankfurt Sun 8 Nov, 02:55 local +1 day.

FRA → IAH

11 h 25 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 300° (WNW).

Leave Frankfurt Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Houston Sat 7 Nov, 14:25 local.

IAH-bound flights are the slower direction by about 85 minutes in our estimate: the route runs mostly east–west through latitudes where the prevailing westerly winds at cruise height are strong, so heading east rides a tailwind and heading west fights a headwind. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance8,402 km · 5,221 mi · 4,537 nmi
Initial heading40° (NE) from IAH; 300° (WNW) from FRA
Farthest from the equator56.1°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip42% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

IAHAmerica/Chicago — UTC−5 now; UTC−6 standard time, UTC−5 during daylight saving time
FRAEurope/Berlin — UTC+1 now; UTC+1 standard time, UTC+2 during daylight saving time
DifferenceFrankfurt is 6 hours ahead of Houston today.

Jet lag, flying IAH → FRA. Your body clock has to move 6 hours earlier, like an eastward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 6 days to fully adjust. Shifting earlier (as here) is usually the harder direction; morning daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

IAH George Bush Intercontinental AirportHouston, United States · longest runway 12,001 ft3,658 m FRA Frankfurt Main AirportFrankfurt, Germany · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from IAH and FRA

DFWIAH Dallas–Fort Worth – Houston 362 km225 mi · 1 h 25 min IAHMEX Houston – Mexico City 1,232 km765 mi · 2 h 30 min IAHCUN Houston – Cancún 1,307 km812 mi · 2 h 30 min IAHBOG Houston – Bogotá 3,585 km2,228 mi · 5 h IAHLHR Houston – London 7,763 km4,824 mi · 9 h 15 min IAHSYD Houston – Sydney 13,836 km8,597 mi · 17 h 25 min 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

Routes of a similar length

GRUMAD São Paulo – Madrid 8,378 km5,206 mi · 10 h 20 min SEAICN Seattle – Seoul 8,373 km5,203 mi · 11 h 15 min JFKLOS New York – Lagos 8,444 km5,247 mi · 10 h 05 min SYDICN Sydney – Seoul 8,343 km5,184 mi · 10 h 40 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).