In this paper we present two fibre optic based laser anemometers for flow measurement inside turbomachinery. A two-spot anemometer is described that has been utilised to measure flows in an axial compressor at velocities up to 40 ms−1. The second instrument is a novel 3D laser Doppler velocimeter that uses a technique of oblique backscatter to allow sequential measurement of the three orthogonal velocity components. This instrument is shown to produce 3D measurements in a centrifugal compressor operating at up to 30 000 rpm with velocities up to 100 ms−1.