AND FINALLY: Every cloud…

Proving every cloud does have a silver lining, the recent bad weather has produced some new flying feats, as reported by Aviation Week.

Among them, a BA B747-400 operating BA112 broke the unofficial record for fastest subsonic transatlantic flight with a New York JFK – Heathrow crossing in less than 5hr.

The time was 4hr 56 min, with the flight helped by a well-positioned jetstream and the first of the February storms. Another BA flight, BA212 from Boston – Heathrow, completed the journey in 4hr 47min.

Virgin Atlantic weighed in with its own VS4 JFK – Heathrow flight clocked at 4hr 57min, 1min slower than the BA flight, but with a twin-engine Airbus A350-1000 which completed the crossing with a 22-ton lower fuel burn.

Flightradar records show a Norwegian Airlines Boeing B787 held the previous record, flying New York – Gatwick in 5hr 13min, while a BA Vickers VC10 BA flew JFK – Heathrow in 5hr 1min in March 1979.

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