The 10 Fastest Passenger Planes Ever, Ranked by Certified Top Speed

The fastest passenger plane ever built was the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, with a maximum cruising speed of Mach 2.15, about 1,450 mph (2,330 km/h). Concorde comes second at Mach 2.04, about 1,354 mph (2,179 km/h). Both are retired, and no supersonic airliner has carried a paying passenger since Concorde’s last flight in October 2003.

The fastest airliner still flying passengers in 2026 is the Boeing 747. The 747-400 is certified to Mach 0.92, a higher limit than any other airliner flying today, and Lufthansa still flies eight of them. For everyday cruising speed, the 747-8 Intercontinental leads at Mach 0.855.

This list ranks every airliner by its maximum operating speed, the certified limit printed on its type certificate. That is the fastest the aircraft is legally allowed to fly in service, which makes it the one figure you can compare fairly across seven decades of jets.

1. Tupolev Tu-144 (Mach 2.15)

The Tu-144 beat Concorde into the air. The prototype first flew on December 31, 1968, about two months before the Concorde prototype, according to NASA.

It also got to the big numbers first. The Tu-144 went supersonic on June 5, 1969, and on May 26, 1970, it became the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.

The final production version, the Tu-144D, had a maximum cruising speed of Mach 2.15, about 1,450 mph (2,330 km/h), at 59,000 feet (18,000 m). No airliner has ever been designed to cruise faster.

Its airline career was tiny. A production Tu-144 crashed at the Paris Air Show on June 3, 1973, killing all six people on board and eight on the ground.

Aeroflot started flying mail and freight between Moscow and Alma-Ata on December 26, 1975, and passenger service began on November 1, 1977. The 55th and last scheduled passenger flight came on June 1, 1978, days after a Tu-144D crash-landed on May 23, killing two crew.

In all, the Tu-144 made 102 commercial flights, and only 55 of them carried passengers. Sixteen airworthy Tu-144s were built.

2. Concorde (Mach 2.04)

Concorde’s top speed was Mach 2.04, about 1,354 mph (2,179 km/h). The limit was set by heat, not engine power: any faster and the airframe’s skin would have run too hot.

British Airways gives its cruising speed as 1,350 mph (2,172 km/h), twice the speed of sound, at up to 60,000 feet (18,300 m). A typical London to New York crossing took a little under three and a half hours, against about eight hours on a subsonic jet.

The fastest crossing came on February 7, 1996, when a British Airways Concorde flew New York to London in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. We break down that flight, and how the schedule beat the clock, in how fast Concorde actually flew.

Twenty Concordes were built, 14 of them production aircraft, and British Airways and Air France flew seven each. Service began on January 21, 1976.

Air France Flight 4590 crashed on July 25, 2000, killing all 109 people on board and four on the ground. Air France flew its last commercial Concorde flight on May 30, 2003, and British Airways withdrew the type on October 24, 2003. The crash was not the main reason, as we explain in why Concorde stopped flying.

The Tu-144 was a little faster on paper, but Concorde was the supersonic airliner that actually worked. It flew passengers for 27 years to the Tu-144’s seven months. How it pulled that off starts with how Concorde was designed.

3. Boeing 747, 100 to 400 Series (Mach 0.92)

No airliner in this ranking, and none flying today, is certified faster than the classic 747. The FAA type certificate gives the 747-100, 200 and 300 a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.92, and the 747-400 the same Mach 0.92 limit.

At 35,000 feet (10,700 m) that works out to about 610 mph (982 km/h). In everyday service the 747-400 cruised much slower, at a typical Mach 0.85, or 567 mph (913 km/h) by Boeing’s own figure.

Boeing delivered 694 747-400s between 1989 and 2009. The whole 747 program built 1,574 aircraft, and the last one, a 747-8 Freighter, went to Atlas Air on January 31, 2023.

The 747-400 is still flying passengers. Frankfurtflyer reported in August 2026 that Lufthansa is keeping all eight of its 747-400s on the winter 2026/27 schedule, on routes from Frankfurt to Houston, Bangalore, Shanghai and Singapore, with the fleet due to retire by 2027.

4. Convair 990 Coronado (Mach 0.912)

The Convair 990 was sold on a speed promise. Its FAA type certificate allows Mach 0.912 above 21,500 feet (6,550 m), about 605 mph (974 km/h) at cruise altitude.

That limit comes with a catch. The 990 carried pod-shaped “anti-shock bodies” on the trailing edges of its wings, and when the outboard pods held fuel, the certified limit dropped to Mach 0.784 or Mach 0.718, depending on the version.

Convair had guaranteed American Airlines a cruise of Mach 0.89. The first 990s managed only Mach 0.84 in level flight, because the anti-shock bodies created far more drag than predicted, and a drag reduction program brought the improved 990A up to the promised Mach 0.89.

The 990 first flew on January 24, 1961, and only 37 were built. In a test dive in May 1961 it reached Mach 0.97.

5. Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental (Mach 0.90)

The last 747 is certified slightly slower than the 747-400, at Mach 0.90, about 597 mph (961 km/h). In everyday flying it is the quickest airliner in service, though: Boeing gives its typical cruise at 35,000 feet as Mach 0.855, about 567 mph (913 km/h).

No airliner flying passengers today has a faster published cruise speed, which is why the 747-8 ranks above the 787 despite sharing its Mach 0.90 limit. For how it measures up in size, see our ranking of the largest Boeing aircraft.

Only 48 passenger 747-8s were built, out of 155 747-8s in total; the rest were freighters. Lufthansa, Korean Air and Air China still fly the passenger version, and Korean Air has the 747-8I scheduled on one of its two daily Seoul to Los Angeles flights from October 25, 2026.

Some are leaving for government work. Lufthansa is selling two of its 747-8Is, most likely to the US Air Force, and four former Korean Air 747-8Is are being converted into the E-4C, the Air Force’s next airborne command post.

6. Boeing 787 Dreamliner (Mach 0.90)

All three 787 variants, the 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10, are certified to Mach 0.90, according to the EASA type certificate. That ties the 747-8 and puts the Dreamliner just two hundredths of a Mach behind the 747-400.

Boeing gives the 787’s cruise speed as Mach 0.85, about 564 mph (907 km/h), a hair slower than the 747-8. Boeing said in September 2026 that it has delivered more than 1,300 787s.

7. Airbus A380 (Mach 0.89)

The A380 has a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.89, about 590 mph (950 km/h), and a typical cruise of Mach 0.85. Airbus keeps these limits in the flight manual rather than the type certificate, so they come from the published operating figures.

All three share the same limit. The double-decker ranks above the 777 on cruise speed, and above the A350 because it is the older design. It is also the largest passenger airplane in the world.

Airbus delivered its 251st and final A380 to Emirates in Hamburg on December 16, 2021. Emirates took 123 of them, nearly half the total.

8. Airbus A350 (Mach 0.89)

The A350 matches the A380 on paper. Its design cruise speed is Mach 0.85, as stated in the FAA’s 2014 special conditions for the type, and its maximum operating speed is Mach 0.89.

It ranks just behind the A380 only because the double-decker is the older design; on speed alone the two are a dead heat. Together with the 787, the A350 shows where airliner design settled: a cruise of about Mach 0.85, not a race to go faster.

9. Boeing 777-300ER (Mach 0.89)

The 777 is a good example of why variants matter. The FAA type certificate gives the original 777-200 a limit of Mach 0.87, while the stretched 777-300, the 777-300ER, the 777-200LR and the 777 Freighter are all certified to Mach 0.89.

Boeing listed the 777’s typical cruise at Mach 0.84, about 557 mph (897 km/h), which is why it sits just below the two Airbus jets.

10. Convair 880 (Mach 0.884)

The Convair 880 is the oldest jet on this list. It first flew on January 27, 1959, and at 615 mph some claimed it was the fastest jet transport in the world.

Its FAA type certificate, approved on May 1, 1960, allows Mach 0.884 above 23,000 feet (7,000 m). That is still faster than the limit on a 777-200 more than three decades later.

Only 65 were built, and its faster sibling, the 990, sold even fewer.

Private Jets Are Faster Than Any Airliner Flying Today

If you widen the question from airliners to every civil jet, the answer changes. Bombardier’s Global 8000 has a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.95, about 630 mph (1,014 km/h) at 35,000 feet, and Bombardier calls it the fastest civil aircraft since Concorde.

The Gulfstream G700 is certified to Mach 0.935, and so was the Cessna Citation X+, which ended production in 2018. All three outrun the 747-400 on paper, as our ranking of the fastest private jets shows in more detail.

Why Some Airliners Hit 800 mph Over the Ground

Every winter, headlines report a passenger jet flying at more than 800 mph. Those numbers are real, but they are ground speed: the plane’s normal airspeed plus a powerful jet stream tailwind.

On February 17, 2024, a United 787 flying from Newark to Lisbon reached a peak ground speed of 838 mph (1,349 km/h), the Washington Post reported. The plane was still moving through the air at its ordinary cruise speed.

In February 2020, a British Airways 747-400 flew New York to London in 4 hours and 56 minutes, the fastest subsonic crossing of that route reported to date. Its ground speed peaked at about 825 mph (1,328 km/h), while Flightradar24 noted its speed through the air was normal.

There are no official records for airliner ground speed, because the wind does the extra work. For how airliners normally fly at each stage, from takeoff roll to cruise, see how fast airplanes go.

Will Supersonic Passenger Flights Return?

The closest candidate is Boom Supersonic’s Overture, designed to cruise at Mach 1.7 with 60 to 80 passengers. Boom lists 130 orders and pre-orders, from airlines including United, American and Japan Airlines.

Boom’s XB-1 demonstrator went supersonic on January 28, 2025, reaching Mach 1.1. The Overture’s own Symphony engine is further behind: in April 2026, Boom said it expected to finish the first full test cycle of the engine core in the third quarter of the year.

The rules are moving too. Since 1973 US regulations have barred civil aircraft from flying faster than sound over land, which leaves a supersonic airliner few routes where it can use its speed.

On July 2, 2026, the FAA proposed repealing that ban and replacing it with a sonic-boom noise standard. As of mid-October 2026 it was still a proposal, and its sonic-boom metric has drawn criticism from acousticians and environmental groups.

NASA’s X-59 is testing the quiet-boom idea that rule depends on. It first flew faster than sound on June 5, 2026, at about Mach 1.1. Whether an original Concorde could ever join the revival is a separate story, covered in will Concorde ever fly again.

For the outright fastest aircraft of any kind, military and experimental included, see our ranking of the fastest aircraft in the world.