CLE to MDW: Distance and Flight Time

How far is it from Cleveland to Chicago?

The great-circle distance between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) and Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) is 492 km (306 mi, 266 nautical miles). That is the straight-line distance; a real flight is a little longer because of air-traffic routing.

How long is the flight from CLE to MDW?

A nonstop flight typically takes about 1h 5m. This is an estimate from the distance; actual block times depend on the aircraft, winds and the exact routing. MDW is roughly west of CLE.

How is the CLE to MDW route written in code?

The pair is written CLE-MDW in IATA codes and KCLE-KMDW in ICAO codes, the form used on a flight plan. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is CLE (KCLE), Chicago Midway International Airport is MDW (KMDW).

Both ICAO codes start with K, the prefix ICAO assigns to the contiguous United States, so this is a route inside one ICAO region. How ICAO prefixes are laid out.

MDW sits 171 ft (52 m) lower than CLE, which is a real difference in air density on takeoff.

Airlines flying CLE to MDW

2 airlines appear on this route in the open route dataset, 2 of them still listed as active. Each row gives the IATA code, the ICAO code and the radio callsign, which is what an air traffic controller hears:

Route and carrier data comes from the OpenFlights open dataset, regenerated here on 3 July 2026. It is a historical snapshot of scheduled connections, not a live schedule, and it includes codeshare listings, so some carriers shown may no longer operate the route or exist. How we build this · Data and sources.

Frequently asked questions

Related routes

Other routes from Cleveland (CLE):

Other routes from Chicago (MDW):

CLE airport code · MDW airport code · Busiest airports worldwide