This paper numerically investigates both the inline and staggered arrays of circular multiple swirling air jets that impinge perpendicularly onto a smooth flat surface. The simulations were conducted for various flow and geometric parameters, such as Reynolds number (Re = 11,600, 24,600, and 35,000), jet‐to‐surface distance (H/D = 1, 2, 3, and 4), jet‐to‐jet separation distance (Z/D = 1.5, 3.0, and 4.5) and swirl numbers (S = 0, 0.3, and 0.75), where D is the nozzle diameter. For S = 0.75, a strong recirculation develops due to the vortex breakdown, depends on Z/D, around the axis and near the wall. The extent of the recirculation is larger for the staggered array. Intense heat transfer is anticipated at strong swirl and close impingement cases with the expense of uniformity; whereas a relatively even heat transfer is observed for larger impingements. The increase in jet‐to‐jet separation enhances the overall cooling effect and the staggered configuration of nozzles gives better performance. It appears that both the crossflow and turbulence around the periphery of each jet predominantly govern the heat transfer characteristics. The enhancement of heat transfer occurs for increasing Re, and the overall Nusselt number (Nu) prediction is scaled by Ren, with n dependent on S. Finally a correlation is developed for the average Nusselt number to relate different control parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]