British Airways Sets Record For Fastest Subsonic Flight From NY To London

A British Airways flight has set a new record for the fastest-ever subsonic flight between New York City and London. The flight departed New York on Saturday night and landed at Heathrow Airport at 4:43 a.m. Sunday morning, nearly two hours ahead of schedule.

According to Flightradar24, an online flight-tracking service, the Boeing 747 reached a top speed of 825 mph during the flight, which lasted just four hours and 56 minutes. The plane had some help from the jetstream, which saw winds greater than 200 mph.

Two other flights also beat the previous record of five hours and 13 minutes, which was set back in 2018. A Virgin Airbus A350 flight touched down at Heathrow a few minutes later and missed out on the record by one minute. Another Virgin plane landed half an hour later and took three minutes longer than the British Airways plane.

The average time it takes to fly between New York and London is six hours and 13 minutes.

While the plane was clocked going faster than the speed of sound, it did not break the sonic barrier. Because the aircraft was being pushed by the high winds in the jet stream, it was moving slower than the speed of sound relative to the air around it.

British Airways issued the following statement:

"We always prioritize safety over speed records, but our highly trained pilots made the most of the conditions to get customers back to London well ahead of time."

The overall record for the fastest flight from New York to London was set by the Concorde in 1996. The supersonic plane made the trip in just two hours and 52 minutes.

Photo: Getty Images