Armenian SkyBall pilot awarded FAI world record certificate

YEREVAN, AUGUST 30, ARMENPRESS. The Féderátion Aéronautique Internationale(FAI), or the International Aeronautical Federation, awarded the Armenian SkyBall pilot Nairi Barseghyan and his co-pilot Sergey Bazhenov the certificate of their world record, marking Armenia’s first ever record in aviation sports.

SkyBall pilot Nairi Barseghyan said that he always wanted to set a world record, but this idea became a major goal after losing his brother in the war.

The longest non-stop SkyBall flight began 08:00, February 16, 2022 in Orenburg, Russia and landed on February 17 at 18:45. The duration was 34 hours and 41 minutes (the previous record was 32 hours and 12 minutes).

“This is a world record but this doesn’t mean that we don’t have anything else to achieve, I promise to keep Armenia’s name high on many other occasions very soon in aeronautics,” the pilot added.

The flight was conducted on board an AX-9 class air balloon.

The Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan was also in attendance of the awarding ceremony. He said that the balloon flights are a very important component in developing adventure tourism.

“In any sports or events where Armenian companies or athletes are able to achieve world records are very important for us and we encourage people having recorded such results. I think we should introduce some measures in order to maximally promote this achievement around the world or in this sector to make this an attractive factor for Armenian adventure tourism,” Kerobyan said.