The Fastest Commercial Flights in History

The Concorde era

From 1976 to 2003, Concorde flew passengers from London and Paris to New York at Mach 2 — about 1,350 mph.

• Typical block time JFK–LHR: 3h 30m.
• Cruising altitude: 60,000 ft, where the curvature of the Earth is visible.
• Engines: 4 × Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 with afterburners.
• Last commercial flight: 24 October 2003.

The post-Concorde records

Without supersonic, records have been set by subsonic flights riding the jet stream.

• British Airways 747 LHR–JFK in 4h 56m in February 2020 — wheels-up to wheels-down — riding storm Ciara at over 800 mph ground speed.
• Multiple LHR–JFK flights have crossed in under 5 hours since 2018.

Why faster doesn't mean better economics

Concorde used about 4× the fuel per seat-mile of a 747. The economics required premium fares that limited the customer base. Modern designs (Boom Overture, Hermeus, Venus Aerospace) are trying to solve this with better engines and materials.

The future

Boom is targeting Mach 1.7 commercial flights with Overture, expected to enter service later in the decade. Several airlines have ordered.

See speed on a tracker

FlightyFlow shows ground speed in real time. Watch a transatlantic flight on a strong jet stream day — you'll often see speeds well over 700 mph.