Virgin Atlantic flight clocks new speed record of more than 800mph
A Virgin Atlantic flight is the proud new holder of the speed record for a subsonic commercial flight.
The Los Angeles to London flight reached a ground speed of 801 mph thanks to strong jet stream winds, arriving at the destination 48 minutes ahead of schedule.
The record speed happened as the jet flew over Pennsylvania at 35,000 feet.
The Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 was not the only jet on Monday to reach unusually high speeds.
A Los Angeles-New York reached 678 mph above Ohio, while a 737 aircraft from Chicago to New York clocked 700mph.
The high-altitude jet stream air current can propel eastbound aircraft at greater speeds but the sheer strength of Monday’s tail winds is rare.
The Boeing 787 jet has a normal cruising speed of 561mph.
The previous fastest transatlantic speed was recorded last year by a Norwegian Air Boeing 787 at 779mph thanks to a tail wind of about 224mph.
While impressive, it was still way short of Concorde which routinely crossed the Atlantic in under four hours.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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