Fastest Commercial Aircraft in History

About This Dataset

Commercial passenger aircraft ranked by maximum cruising speed in km/h. The Concorde and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 stand alone as the only supersonic commercial passenger aircraft ever to enter service — both cruising at over twice the speed of sound. The Concorde operated transatlantic routes from 1976 to 2003, crossing from London to New York in as little as 2 hours 52 minutes.

✨ AI Insight

The Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144 stand out as outliers in this dataset, with cruising speeds that are over twice that of the fastest subsonic aircraft, the Boeing 747 at 988 km/h. The gap between the supersonic and subsonic aircraft is striking, with the Concorde's speed surpassing the Boeing 747 by 1191 km/h. The decline of supersonic commercial travel can be attributed to high operational costs, noise regulations, and environmental concerns, which have led to a preference for more economical subsonic designs. As aviation technology continues to evolve, the potential for a new generation of supersonic aircraft remains a topic of interest, though significant hurdles must be addressed.

Source: Wikipedia

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Concorde (UK / France) leads with 2,179 in 2015.

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Average value in 2015: 910 · median: 910.

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1976 recorded the highest combined total across all categories.

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Gap in 2015: Concorde (UK / France) is 2.5× larger than Douglas DC-8 (USA).

Fastest Commercial Aircraft in History

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Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

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Data Points

8 categories · 8 years

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Top Value

2,179

Concorde (UK / France)

Max Cruising Speed (km/h) · 1976

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Metrics

Max Cruising Speed (km/h)

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Period

1958 – 2015

8 years of data

Rankings & Full Data

8 records · Max Cruising Speed (km/h) · ranked by 2015

✓ 8 sourced

#	Category	1958	1970	1975	1976	1994	2007	2011	2015	Change
🥇	Concorde (UK / France)	—	—	—	2,179	—	—	—	—	—
🥈	Tupolev Tu-144 (USSR)	—	—	2,120	—	—	—	—	—	—
🥉	Boeing 747 (USA)	—	988	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4	Boeing 777 (USA)	—	—	—	—	950	—	—	—	—
5	Airbus A350 (Europe)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	910	—
6	Boeing 787 Dreamliner (USA)	—	—	—	—	—	—	907	—	—
7	Airbus A380 (Europe)	—	—	—	—	—	903	—	—	—
8	Douglas DC-8 (USA)	887	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—