There are two ways to choose a city to meet in when two people live far apart. The first starts from the map: find the halfway point, then look for an airport near it that both can fly to. The second starts from the flights: list every destination both home airports reach nonstop (no change of plane), then choose from that list on flight time and season. For the six city pairs on this page, the map method found a city both reach nonstop every time, but the flight list gave a closer split of flying time in five of them.
The figures come from Midway’s route data as of October 2026, which covers the next twelve months of schedules for the 600 busiest airports. Each example uses one airport per city. A destination counts as shared when both airports have a nonstop to it in at least one of those months, which is the rule Midway applies to a search. The six pairs were picked to cover six regions, not to be typical. Pairs split by an ocean often have a midpoint at sea, which the guide to meeting in the middle covers with New York and London.
See every destination Madrid and Warsaw both reach nonstop
Two ways to choose a meeting city
The midpoint method measures distance. You find the airport nearest the halfway point and check whether both people have a nonstop there, moving outward until one works. It gives one candidate at a time, with no flight times, airlines or seasons until you look them up.
The flights-first method measures what each person will sit through. Midway is built on it: enter up to six departure cities and it returns every destination all of them reach nonstop, with the flight time and distance from each.
Midway also keeps one piece of the midpoint method. On the shared list it marks a Midway Point, the destination it scores as the fairest by distance. A change in March 2026 made that score favour destinations roughly equidistant for everyone, rather than the one closest on average. Because it measures miles, it often lands where the midpoint method lands.
Boston and San Diego
Boston and San Diego are 2,580 miles apart, and the midpoint falls in northeastern Kansas, 65 miles from Kansas City’s airport. Kansas City has nonstops from both: 3h35 to 3h55 from Boston on American, Delta and Southwest, and 3h to 3h15 from San Diego on Southwest. The midpoint method works at the first try here, with a gap of about 35 minutes between the two flights.
Around 55 destinations have a nonstop from both airports. New Orleans splits the time more evenly, at 3h35 to 4h from Boston and 3h25 to 3h45 from San Diego. Minneapolis has a gap of about 15 minutes, at 3h20 to 3h30 from Boston and 3h35 to 3h45 from San Diego, with Delta and Sun Country on both routes all year.
The Midway Point for this pair is Omaha, 100 miles from the midpoint. Midway’s data lists the Boston flight to Omaha in April 2027 only, which is the limit of any distance-based pick: it does not see the months.
Madrid and Warsaw
Madrid and Warsaw are 1,410 miles apart. The midpoint is in western Switzerland, 7 miles from Bern’s airport, which has no nonstop from either city. The next airport out is Basel-Mulhouse, 44 miles away, with an easyJet flight from Madrid but nothing from Warsaw. Zurich, 65 miles from the midpoint, is the first with both, at 2h25 from Madrid and 2h05 from Warsaw, all year.
Around 105 destinations have a nonstop from both airports, the longest list of the six pairs. Milan Malpensa, 113 miles from the midpoint, takes 2h10 to 2h15 from each city all year, with five airlines on the Madrid route and four on the Warsaw one. It is also the Midway Point. Pisa has the same 2h10 from each side. In a dense network like this one, the midpoint lands in the right region, and the list finds a better-balanced airport a little further out.
Tokyo Narita and Bangkok
Tokyo Narita and Bangkok are 2,890 miles apart, and the midpoint is in Fujian province, China, 60 miles from Fuzhou’s airport. Fuzhou has nonstops from both, at 4h05 to 4h20 from Narita and 3h55 from Bangkok, all year, and it is the Midway Point. Midway’s data lists two airlines on the Narita route and one on the Bangkok route.
Around 60 destinations have a nonstop from both airports. Taipei Taoyuan, 171 miles from the midpoint, has the same shortest flight time from each city, 3h40, with ten airlines listed from Narita and five from Bangkok. The midpoint method would have stopped at Fuzhou, though more airlines probably mean more departure times and fares to choose from.
Bogotá and Santiago
Bogotá and Santiago are 2,640 miles apart, and the midpoint is in the Peruvian Andes. The nearest airport is Andahuaylas, 66 miles away, with no nonstop from either city. Cusco is 72 miles from the midpoint, with Avianca nonstops from Bogotá at 3h20 to 3h25 and LATAM and Sky nonstops from Santiago at 3h30 to 3h40, all year.
Around 35 destinations have a nonstop from both airports, and Cusco is also where the two methods agree. It has the smallest gap between the two flight times on the shared list and the shortest longer flight, and it is the Midway Point. Lima is the usual alternative, at 3h10 from Bogotá and 3h50 from Santiago.
Johannesburg and Cairo
Johannesburg and Cairo are 3,890 miles apart, and the midpoint is in northeastern DR Congo, 42 miles from Bunia’s airport, which has no nonstop from either city. Moving outward, the first airport with nonstops from both is Entebbe, for Kampala, 227 miles away. It is 4h15 from Johannesburg on Uganda Airlines and 5h to 5h10 from Cairo on EgyptAir, and it is the Midway Point.
Around 25 destinations have a nonstop from both airports, and every one of them runs all year. Nairobi has the same longer flight as Entebbe, at 4h from Johannesburg and 5h from Cairo. Accra has the smallest gap, at 6h05 from Johannesburg and 5h50 to 6h15 from Cairo, but its longer flight is about an hour more than at Entebbe or Nairobi. An even split is not always the shorter trip, and only the list shows that trade.
Check which destinations Johannesburg and Cairo share in a given month
Perth and Auckland
Perth and Auckland are 3,320 miles apart, and the midpoint is near Geelong, in Victoria, 15 miles from Avalon airport, which has no nonstop from either city. Melbourne’s main airport, 46 miles from the midpoint, has both, at 3h35 from Perth and 4h05 to 4h10 from Auckland, all year. It is the Midway Point.
Around 15 destinations have a nonstop from both airports, the shortest list of the six pairs. Sydney splits the time a little more evenly, at 4h05 to 4h15 from Perth and 3h45 to 3h50 from Auckland, all year. Hobart is closer still, at 4h to 4h10 from Perth and 3h45 to 3h55 from Auckland, but Midway’s data lists the Auckland flight from October to May only.
The six pairs side by side
| Departure airports | Miles apart | Nearest airport to the midpoint | First airport out with a nonstop from both | Shared destinations* | Smallest gap on the shared list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston and San Diego | 2,580 | Kansas City (65 mi) | Kansas City: 3h35 / 3h | ~55 | New Orleans: 3h35 / 3h25 |
| Madrid and Warsaw | 1,410 | Bern (7 mi) | Zurich (65 mi): 2h25 / 2h05 | ~105 | Milan Malpensa: 2h10 / 2h10 |
| Tokyo Narita and Bangkok | 2,890 | Fuzhou (60 mi) | Fuzhou: 4h05 / 3h55 | ~60 | Taipei Taoyuan: 3h40 / 3h40 |
| Bogotá and Santiago | 2,640 | Andahuaylas (66 mi) | Cusco (72 mi): 3h20 / 3h30 | ~35 | Cusco: 3h20 / 3h30 |
| Johannesburg and Cairo | 3,890 | Bunia (42 mi) | Entebbe (227 mi): 4h15 / 5h | ~25 | Accra: 6h05 / 5h50 |
| Perth and Auckland | 3,320 | Avalon (15 mi) | Melbourne (46 mi): 3h35 / 4h05 | ~15 | Hobart: 4h / 3h45 (October to May) |
*Destinations with a nonstop from both airports in at least one of the next twelve months, rounded to the nearest 5. Flight times are the shortest scheduled time from the first and the second city, rounded to 5 minutes. Distances are great-circle miles from the midpoint. Midway’s route data as of October 2026.
What each method gets right
The midpoint method is quick and needs nothing but a map. In five of these six pairs it reached a city both people fly to nonstop within 75 miles of the midpoint, and for Bogotá and Santiago that city also has the smallest flight-time gap on the shared list. Its limits are that it measures miles, offers one city at a time, and says nothing about airlines or months until you check them by hand.
The flights-first method starts with what the midpoint method has to look up: the gap between the two flight times, the airlines on each route and the months each one runs. That is how Hobart’s October-to-May route and Omaha’s single April month show up at all. In most cases the shared list is the better place to start, and the midpoint is a reasonable tie-breaker once the list is down to a few cities. For three or more departure cities, see the guide to finding a common destination from multiple cities.
Neither method knows the fares on the dates you can travel, or which of the two people has less time off. Those usually decide between the last two or three cities on the list.
Enter your two cities in Midway to see every destination both reach nonstop, with the flight time from each and the months each route runs.