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London (CNN) - A British Airways (BA) flight has broken the record for the fastest subsonic flight between New York and London, with a top speed of more than 1,287 km / h.
The Boeing 747 flew overnight from Saturday to Sunday and reached its destination in four hours and 56 minutes, while the Ciara storm was heading for the United Kingdom.
The plane landed at Heathrow airport at 4:43 a.m., almost two hours earlier than scheduled. Its maximum speed during the flight was 1,327 km / h, according to Flightradar24, an online flight tracking service.
Fastest across the Atlantic tonight from New York to London so far is # BA112 at 4hr56m. # VS4 in 4:57, and # VS46 in 4:59. https://t.co/gfYoHGV3Y6https://t.co/kMhjCqdEtt
If we're not mistaken, BA now retakes the fastest subsonic NY-London crossing from Norwegian. pic.twitter.com/Sr1GPeAjuh
- Flightradar24 (@ flightradar24) February 9, 2020
The flight tracking platform estimates that the average time it takes for a plane to fly between London and New York is 6 hours and 13 minutes.
Flightradar24 announced the news of the record flight on his Twitter account: "If we are not mistaken, BA now snatches Norwegian the fastest subsonic crossing between New York and London."
The service added that the British Airways flight was a minute faster than a Virgin Airbus A350 flight, which landed in Heathrow moments later. And he beat another Virgin plane that landed half an hour later for three minutes.
The three flights comfortably beat the previous record of 5 hours and 13 minutes, held by Norwegian since January 2018.
Although the BA plane apparently registered a speed greater than the speed of sound, 1,234 km / h, it would not have broken the sonic barrier when pushed by the air around it. Even when traveling at more than 1,287 km / h, the 747 flew much slower than the speed of sound in relation to the air around it.
A BA spokesman said: "We always prioritize safety over speed records, but our highly trained drivers took full advantage of the conditions for customers to return to London well in advance."
Storm Ciara made landfall in the United Kingdom over the weekend and caused serious travel disruptions elsewhere. Two of Europe's busiest airports, one in Frankfurt, Germany, and the other in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, suspended more than 100 flights due to the storm.
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A spokesman for the company told CNN that BA, like all other airlines operating flights inside and outside the United Kingdom, also suffered the consequences of Ciara, and canceled some of its flights and merged others.
With information from Barry Neild of CNN
British Airways
