Hi there! �I do highly doubt that any plane will fly slower at night then at day. �With most things in aviation, going slower then your supposed to usually leads to a safety concern, more importantly, stalls. �A modern day 737 typically rely mainly on its instruments (and autopilot in a lot of cases) to fly, especially at night time. �There would be no need to slow down, and even by doing so, it would have negligable results. �It may be looking slow from the angle your looking at it. �I know at times when im driving, and I look up at an airliner on final, it looks like its just hovering. �However, if angle is not the case, then the only explanation could be perhaps Air Traffic Control spacing, which I doubt, but maybe... �

And just another note too, depending on the loading of the airplane, its approach speed will differ.  It can be as slow as a cessna 172 on a fast cruise speed sometimes as well.

Maybe he had a strong head-wind.

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I dunno-I have something like 4.5 hours of night flying around the Philadelphia area (1.5 x-country) and I always have trouble finding the airports, every time.  I can spot them much easier in the daytime.

But thats just me.