Great-circle route IAH ↔ DCA. Faint dots are other airports, for geographic context. Download this map — free to reuse with a link back to this page.
Frequencies below are per direction, from our most recent schedule sample. The two directions are not identical — that is normal on scheduled routes.
| Direction | Frequency | Days | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|
| IAH → DCA Houston to Washington |
65/wk | Daily | American Airlines, United Airlines |
| DCA → IAH Washington to Houston |
64/wk | Daily | American Airlines, United Airlines |
Where a direction shows “—” we track it as an operating nonstop but hold no schedule sample for it — we would rather show nothing than guess.
In 2025, airlines reported 522,989 passengers on 5,328 flights between IAH and DCA — about 1,434 a day — filling 73% of the 716,385 seats flown. United Air Lines Inc. carried the most passengers (93%).
Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports — actual airline-reported traffic, scheduled service only, both directions combined. Cargo and charter flights excluded.
2 airlines fly the IAH–DCA nonstop, including American Airlines, United Airlines.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Canadair reg jet 700, Boeing 737, Boeing 737-700, Airbus A319 and 2 other types.
Aircraft assignments change by season and by time of day.
The distance between George Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is 1,206 miles, or 1,941 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 1,206 mi |
| Kilometres | 1,941 km |
| Nautical miles | 1,048 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. 2 airlines fly the route nonstop, with about 129 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 2h 57m in the air. That is a great-circle estimate from the 1,206-mile distance, not a scheduled block time — an airline's published time will differ by roughly 15 to 45 minutes depending on routing, winds and taxi.
About 65 a week from Houston to Washington and 64 a week from Washington to Houston, from our most recent schedule sample.
American Airlines, United Airlines.
In 2025, airlines reported 522,989 passengers on 5,328 scheduled flights between IAH and DCA — about 1,434 a day — filling 73% of the seats flown. Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports, both directions combined.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Canadair reg jet 700, Boeing 737, Boeing 737-700, Airbus A319. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
