Norwegian breaks record for fastest transatlantic flight

  • The Norwegian flight travelled from New York to Gatwick in five hours 13 minutes
  • The airliner, a Boeing Dreamliner was carrying 284 passengers on the flight
  • The previous record was believed to have been held by a British Airways jet 

The record for the fastest ever transatlantic flight by a conventional airliner has been broken by a budget airline.

A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, operated by Norwegian, flew from New York to London Gatwick in just five hours and 13 minutes.

The flight, carrying 284 passengers, arrived at Gatwick airport in London 53 minutes ahead of schedule.

A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner operated by Norwegian has broken the record for the fastest transatlantic flight by a conventional airliner

Strong tailwinds over the Atlantic pushed the aircraft to a top speed of 776mph during the 3,500-mile flight.

The subsonic record is believed to have previously been held by a British Airways Boeing 777-200 jet which flew from New York to London in five hours and 16 minutes in 2015.

Norwegian captain Harold van Dam said: ‘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.

A map of the flight path taken by the Dreamliner when it broke the record for the fastest transatlantic flight by a conventional airliner

A map of the flight path taken by the Dreamliner when it broke the record for the fastest transatlantic flight by a conventional airliner

‘We were actually in the air for just over five hours and if it had not been for forecasted turbulence at lower altitude, we could have flown even faster.’

The tail fin of the aircraft features a portrait of aviation pioneer Amy Johnson, who was the first female pilot to fly solo from Britain to Australia in 1930.

Although the flight time from the Dreamliner is impressive, it’s some way off the record for the fastest transatlantic passenger flight. 

The quickest transatlantic passenger flight recored was set by Concorde – which flew at more than twice the speed of sound – at two hours and 52 minutes in 1996.



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