Fastest Flight

This Pilot Flew the Fastest Flight From New York to London Since the Concorde

David Peacock/Courtesy of Norwegian
CAILEY RIZZO

A Norwegian Air flight broke transatlantic records on Monday when it flew from New York City to London in just five hours and 13 minutes.


The Boeing 787 Dreamliner reached speeds of 776 miles per hour when it was pushed by a jet stream on its 3,458-mile flight. The pilot, Captain Harold van Dam, revealed that the flight could have gone even faster if it wasn’t for turbulence.

“'The 787 Dreamliner is a pleasure to fly and it’s a great feeling to know that we have set a new record in this aircraft,” van Dam told the Daily Mail.

Average travel time for the flight is about five hours and 45 minutes.

Norwegian allots six and a half hours for the flight service, meaning that passengers on Monday’s flight arrived in London more than an hour early.

Winter flights from the U.S. to Europe are often shorter, as the jet stream winds are more intense. When temperatures in the northern hemisphere differ greatly from those at the equator, strong winds push across the Atlantic (which, in turn, pushes planes faster). However it can have the opposite effect on flights arriving from Europe, making them slower as they push against the wind.

The previous record for fastest subsonic flight from New York City to London was set by British Airways in January 2015 when it managed to complete the journey in five hours and 16 minutes.

Though the flight was fast, it pales in comparison to the bygone era of the Concorde and supersonic flight. The record for fastest time ever across the Atlantic was set by a British Airways Concorde flight in 1996. The aircraft flew from New York City to London in about two hours and 53 minutes. It reached a top speed of 1,350 miles per hour.