Virgin Atlantic Dreamliner sets new record

• 21 February 2019
• News
• General

A Virgin Atlantic flight has hit a record breaking 801mph on flight to London.

On 19 February 2019, a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft could have set a new record speed for a Dreamliner after it hurtled across the US East Coast at more than 800mph.

The jet was boosted by a powerful jet stream across the eastern US states, which clocked in at 231mph, the fastest for half a century, according to the National Weather Service in New York.

This jet stream increased the speed of 3,500-mile-long Virgin Atlantic flight VS8 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow, which at one point hit 801mph while over Pennsylvania.

The typical speed of a Dreamliner is 561mph.

Flight VS8, operated by a Boeing 787 aircraft, took nine hours and 34 minutes to reach London, 48 minutes quicker than expected.