How fast do aeroplanes fly?

Just how quickly do passenger aircraft fly? Commercial jet aircraft cruise at about 400 – 500 knots (460 – 575 mph / 740 – 930 kph) – read more to understand the background behind it. Speed can get a bit confusing when talking about an object moving through the air. read more

Small light aircraft tend to be flying around 100mph, airliners fly in the 500 to 600 mph range, military aircraft can get up to around 1500 to 2000 mph when they need to - and some specialist spy planes and research aircraft have reached speeds even higher than that. read more