JetSetAuthority

Route · Middle East and the Gulf hubs

RUH Riyadh ⇄ CAI Cairo

King Khalid International Airport (Saudi Arabia) and Cairo International Airport (Egypt): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance1,612 km1,002 mi871 nautical miles
RUH → CAI3 hestimated block time
CAI → RUH2 h 45 minestimated block time
Clock change−1 hCairo vs Riyadh, today
Great-circle route from Riyadh (RUH) to Cairo (CAI)RUHRiyadhCAICairo
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

RUH → CAI

3 h

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 294° (WNW).

Leave Riyadh Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Cairo Sat 7 Nov, 12:00 local.

CAI → RUH

2 h 45 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 107° (ESE).

Leave Cairo Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Riyadh Sat 7 Nov, 13:45 local.

CAI-bound flights are the slower direction by about 15 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 distance1,612 km · 1,002 mi · 871 nmi
Initial heading294° (WNW) from RUH; 107° (ESE) from CAI
Farthest from the equator30.1°N
Crossesneither the equator nor the 180th meridian
Share of the longest possible trip8% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

RUHAsia/Riyadh — UTC+3 now; UTC+3 all year (no daylight saving time)
CAIAfrica/Cairo — UTC+2 now; UTC+2 standard time, UTC+3 during daylight saving time
DifferenceCairo is 1 hour behind Riyadh 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 RUH → CAI. Your body clock has to move 1 hour later, like a westward 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

RUH King Khalid International AirportRiyadh, Saudi Arabia · longest runway 13,796 ft4,205 m CAI Cairo International AirportCairo, Egypt · longest runway 13,124 ft4,000 m

More routes from RUH and CAI

JEDRUH Jeddah – Riyadh 852 km529 mi · 2 h DXBRUH Dubai – Riyadh 874 km543 mi · 2 h 05 min JEDCAI Jeddah – Cairo 1,216 km756 mi · 2 h 30 min CAIIST Cairo – Istanbul 1,264 km786 mi · 2 h 30 min DXBCAI Dubai – Cairo 2,417 km1,502 mi · 4 h LHRCAI London – Cairo 3,533 km2,195 mi · 4 h 45 min

Routes of a similar length

ORDMCO Chicago – Orlando 1,620 km1,007 mi · 2 h 50 min LHRNAP London – Naples 1,630 km1,013 mi · 2 h 45 min MANPMI Manchester – Palma de Mallorca 1,581 km982 mi · 2 h 50 min SEADEN Seattle – Denver 1,645 km1,022 mi · 2 h 45 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).