IAD → CPTWashington to Cape Town

live

Direct flights from Washington (IAD) to Cape Town (CPT): 4 nonstop departures observed each week across 1 airline. The median arrival is 17 minutes early. No cancellations were recorded across the 4 tracked flights. The nonstop covers 12,764 km, an estimated 16 hours 52 minutes in the air. Measured by Pro Flight Search from live flight boards at Washington and Cape Town. Updated 13 September 2026 at 12:07 UTC.

IAD Washington smooth · +12
CPT Cape Town smooth · +0
12,764 km · ~16h 52m est.
departs 18:254x weekly
Running clean · 1 airline · 4x weekly · nonstop
80 / 100

route health from live IAD and CPT delay boards

Median arrival delay is −17 min. 0 of 4 tracked legs cancelled in the sample. Will a delayed flight be cancelled? →

Median arrival−17 minacross the last 4 operated legs
Flight time~16h 52mestimated from route distance
Weekly departures4x1 direct airline on the leg

The week

scheduled departures · origin local time
06121824
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
United Airlines

Each mark is a scheduled departure at its origin-local time, observed operating in the last 7 days. Today is highlighted.

Who flies it

observed on the boards · 7 days
United AirlinesUA

Flights UA1011 18:25 Mo Th Sa Su

History

operated legs · board outcomes
09-12UA1011dep +10 → arr−30
09-10UA1011dep +14 → arr−17
09-07UA1011dep +15 → arr−32
09-06UA1011arrived−3

Actual board outcomes rather than schedules, paired departure and arrival per flight and day.

Full board history, day by day →

Airports right now

live boards
IADWashington +12 min smooth 🌫 mostly cloudy · N 0 kt Full IAD delay board →
CPTCape Town +0 min smooth 🌤 clear · SW 5 kt Full CPT delay board →

Weather lens

Current conditions put the pressure at CPT: 39% odds of a 15+ minute delay and around +7 min expected when it bites, measured from this route's own weather-matched delay history. See live delays → · Weather risk by airport →

How the Washington to Cape Town route actually runs

Pro Flight Search records official board updates for nonstop IAD to CPT flights through the day: schedules, estimates, gate pushes and actual departures. The verdict above comes from operated flights, so it reflects what this route does rather than what the timetable promises.

Planning around a delay? Live airport delays · Weather delay risk map · Will a delayed flight be cancelled? · Do planes make up time in the air? · How we measure

Cite this data

Journalists, bloggers, and researchers may cite this page with attribution and a link to Pro Flight Search.

Suggested citation

Pro Flight Search — Washington (IAD) to Cape Town (CPT) route reliability, measured from operated flights on official airport boards.

Canonical URL
https://proflightsearch.com/search-flights/IAD-CPT
How we measure this →

IAD to CPT questions

Is IAD–CPT running on time right now?

Mostly on schedule. The departure side at IAD is the weaker end, route health score 80/100. The airports section above carries the live status and delay window at both ends.

How long is the flight from IAD to CPT?

Great-circle distance is 12,764 km. With typical jet cruise speed plus taxi, climb and descent, expect roughly 931–1124 min gate-to-gate on this route.

How often does IAD–CPT fly?

United Airlines runs the route with about 4 flights a week (sun, mon, thu, sat). Since one carrier owns the route, a single disruption tends to ripple through the day.

What does the route health score measure?

A blend of departure-side delay at IAD and arrival-side delay at CPT, computed from rolling delay windows (refreshed every 40 minutes) with a daily-rollup fallback. Current MVFR, IFR, or LIFR endpoint weather caps the score when flight rules can limit throughput. Higher is healthier: 100 means operations are clean at both ends.