Long distance gas ballooning World Champions crowned at 67th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett - Overall Highlights

The Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett, the FAI long-distance world championship for gas balloon pilots, is the oldest and most prestigious event in aviation and the ultimate challenge for the pilots. The teams of two pilots on board the balloons have just one mission: to fly as far as possible from the launch site over Europe without intermediate landing. In collaboration with ground crews, the teams endeavour to use the meteorological activity to navigate within the defined competition area to reach the furthest distance. After nearly 69 hours of intense competition, the long-distance world championship in gas ballooning concluded late Tuesday afternoon with the landing of the final teams in the area of the southwestern coast of Portugal. Team Austria, piloted by Christian Wagner and co-pilot Stefanie Liller, emerged victorious after covering 2,111.17 kilometers as the crew flies from the start in Münster, Germany, over the course of 67 hours in the air. In second place, Team Switzerland 1 with pilots Kurt Frieden and Pascal Wittprächtiger finished close behind, covering a distance of 2,109.75 kilometers. The German pilots Andreas Zumrode and Axel Hunnekuhl, who competed as the hometown favorites from Münsterland, secured an honorable third place with a distance of 2,108.47 kilometers.