British Airways flight crosses Atlantic from New York to London in under five hours

For the first time in years, a commercial passenger plane has flown across the Atlantic in less than five hours.

A British Airways flight landed early Sunday morning at Heathrow Airport in London after leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York just four hours and 56 minutes earlier.

That set a new speed record for subsonic — or slower than the speed of sound — commercial aircraft to fly between the two cities, according to Flightradar24, which tracks global flights.

Thanks to a strong, well-positioned jet stream, a @British_Airways 747 managed a new New York-London subsonic speed record today, making the journey in 4 hours 56 minutes—17 minutes faster than the previous record. https://t.co/HISXpN6Vns #BA112 pic.twitter.com/A2R42rsx14

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 9, 2020

The previous record was held by a Norwegian Air flight, which flew between the two cities with a flight time of five hours and 13 minutes.

The flight had been expected to take 102 minutes longer. The recent average flight time between New York and London is 6 hours and 13 minutes, according to Flightradar24.

The wind and air currents were ideal for a fast flight, said Ian Petchenik, Flightradar24’s director of communications. “In the winter, the jet stream dips down a bit,” he said. “It’s kind of in a perfect spot for flights across the North Atlantic to take advantage of it.”

British Airways just narrowly beat out a Virgin Atlantic flight, which arrived in London at around the same time but one minute slower.

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

British Airways confirmed the flight time for the Boeing 747 plane, saying the company prioritizes safety over speed.

The supersonic Concorde flights used to fly across the Atlantic in just over three hours, but stopped flying in 2003.

(AP)