The Airbus A350 is one of the newest marvels of the aviation industry. From its striking appearance on the outside to incredible technology within, the aircraft is one of the most advanced aircraft available today, but how fast can it actually fly? This guide will explain both the internal and external factors that formulate an answer to this question.

Aircraft fly quickly; that is a pretty obvious fact. The days of supersonic flight are over, for now, so understanding how quickly modern long-haul airliners can get you to your destination is of paramount importance. What better aircraft to examine than one of the rising stars of the industry, the Airbus A350.

How Fast Does The A350 Actually Fly?

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According to official Airbus figures, the Airbus A350 has a cruise speed of Mach 0.85, around 652mph. This is impressive alone. However, the aircraft boasts a max operating speed of Mach 0.89, around 682mph. To imagine an aircraft capable of weighing up to 322,000 kilograms moving over the ground at such a speed can be difficult. However, are these figures actually accurate? Not fully, and this article explores a few of the factors at play.

There are many factors that directly affect how fast any aircraft flies during a given flight. Some of these factors can be controlled by the pilots; some cannot. They include cost index, air traffic control restrictions, and weather, to name just a few. The advertised figures are simply a mean number of how fast the manufacturer thinks the aircraft will be flying. They don’t take into account any of the factors that affect the speed achieved on any given day. Sometimes it will be faster, sometimes slower. They are good basic figures, but there is much more to be explored.

What Is The Difference Between Airspeed And Ground Speed?

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Regardless of airspeed being widely advertised as the true speed of an aircraft, it is actually ground speed that has a much more significant impact on the actual speed of flight. According to howstuffworks, airspeed measures an airplane’s speed relative to the surrounding air, while ground speed measures its speed over the ground, factoring in wind speed.

On some occasions, flights may take less time than advertised by the airline. This is usually not because the pilots accelerated to a faster speed; it could be due to the aircraft being pushed along by a tailwind. A common example is that flights from Europe to North America generally take longer than the return route, mainly because the prevailing wind blows from west to east. Examining Flightradar24 data, a Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 flew from London Heathrow to New York JFK in 6 hours 45 minutes on February 8th, whereas the return leg, flown 2 hours later, took 25 minutes less.

Airlines are also known to be pessimistic about the advertised flight time when booking flights. This trick is to maintain on-time performance, as even if the aircraft departs behind schedule, the artificial flight time will help it arrive before its scheduled time. Keep that in mind the next time you are onboard a flight and the pilot announces the flight time will be significantly less than the schedule says.

Why The Airbus A350 Has Such A Reduced Pilot Workload

Airbus calls its A350 the “best office in the sky” for good reason. It has exceptionally low pilot workload.

How Do Other Aircraft Perform?

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The A350 is clearly one of the leaders in the sky at the moment, but it is not immune to competition. Namely, the Boeing 787 is widely regarded as its main competitor. The question is, can it compete with the speed of the A350? Short answer: yes, it can, it can beat it.

The 787 has a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.90 compared to the A350’s Mach 0.89. The 787 has an overall more lightweight design, uses raked wingtips, which increase efficiency and also, interestingly, does not use engine bleed air for cabin pressurization, eliminating a source of air resistance, and efficiency loss found in traditional systems. These slight differences are what give the 787 a slight edge. However, the 787 has the same cruise speed as the A350 at Mach 0.85. This slightly takes the competitive edge away from the A350’s Boeing competitor.

As can be seen here, compared to the older design of the Airbus A330, the newer 787 and A350 clearly excel in speed despite being capable of carrying more weight. Should how fast an aircraft can fly affect your decision when choosing what to fly? Most likely not, as these differences can be negligible, but they’re still an interesting element to keep in mind nonetheless.

What Powers The A350?

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One of the most prevalent examples of innovation on the A350 pushing it to impressive speeds is its powerplant. Airbus selected the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines for all variants of the aircraft.

The Trent XWB engines come in two variants, the XWB-84, fitted to the A350-900, and the XWB-97, fitted to the -1000. They are astonishingly efficient; the manufacturer claims they save airlines $6.4 million per aircraft per year on fuel alone. The engines are also powerful, producing up to 97,000lbs of thrust. This huge amount of thrust propelling the aircraft, coupled with 25% less fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, makes the A350 very popular among airlines for good reason.

The Trent XWB engines have a diameter of 3 meters. The diameter of a Bombardier CRJ-900 fuselage is 2.7 meters, meaning you could technically fit a CRJ-900 inside one of these engines and still have room to spare. These engines also have the longest on-wing time of any new generation widebody engine, reducing maintenance costs and increasing efficiency further.

Is It True That The Airbus A350-900 Is More Powerful Than The 777-200ER?

Is the Airbus A350-900 more powerful than the Boeing 777-200ER? Raw thrust says no—but efficiency tells a very different story.

Does Any Other Aircraft Cruise Faster Than The A350?

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The A350 cruises rather quickly, but is there any aircraft currently available that cruises at a faster speed? The answer may surprise you that there is, in fact, a commercial aircraft that can outrun the A350 at cruising altitude, the Boeing 747-8I.

The 747-8i boasts a cruise speed of Mach 0.86 and a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.90 according to Air Charter Service. Given the fact that the aircraft is so large, this is quite remarkable. Its predecessor, the 747-400, could reach Mach 0.92 but had the same cruise speed as the more modern jets at Mach 0.85. This slightly quicker cruise speed, however, is no consolation for the increase in fuel burn thanks to the aircraft’s four engines. The A350 burns nearly half as much fuel as the 747 during cruise. This fact alone explains the unfortunate demise of 4-engined commercial aircraft.

Where even more staggering speeds are currently being achieved is in private aviation. The leader is the Bombardier Global 8000, which is capable of cruising at speeds up to Mach 0.94 and has a maximum speed of Mach 0.95. It was certified to fly in Europe by EASA in January 2026, making it the fastest civilian jet to be certified since Concorde. The Global 8000 is closely followed by the Gulfstream G700 and the Cessna Citation X, both of which are capable of cruising at Mach 0.935. It would not be an ill-informed assumption that private jet manufacturers will achieve supersonic flight before it makes a return to commercial aviation. It could be fascinating to analyze the speeds these jets achieve over the coming years.

What Does The Future Hold?

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It is impossible to say how fast commercial aircraft may fly in the future, but one thing is clear, aircraft have been getting faster since the retirement of Concorde in 2003. Some companies have one clear goal in mind: to return to supersonic flight. One of these companies is Boom Supersonic. Their Overture project has already gained traction with orders from United, American Airlines and Japan Airlines. They aim to get their aircraft to cruise at Mach 1.7 at 60,000 feet and claim you will be able to fly from New York to London in 3 hours and 40 minutes. There is no set date for deliveries, and test flights have only begun in recent months at the time of writing, so it does not seem like we will see commercial supersonic flights anytime soon.

The Airbus A350 is truly one of aviation’s marvels. Combining its cruise speed with its ultra-long range and unmatched efficiency makes it clear why it is becoming commonplace across the skies today. The aircraft has gone from strength to strength since its introduction to the market and is a great aircraft to fly on from a passenger perspective. So the next time you step foot onboard an A350, just think of all the technology and innovation that is about to push you to 85% of the speed of sound.