Hot Air Balloon Flight Above the Peaks of Aragats: On the Way to a World Record

On January 17, pilot Nairi Barseghyan from the company "Skyball" conducted an exceptional flight with his Russian colleague Sergey Bazhenov, traveling from Gyumri to Yerevan over the peaks of Mount Aragats.

According to "Armenpress," Barseghyan stated that the flight was experimental, as they are preparing to set a world record with their hot air balloon. "We are currently getting ready for the world record attempt, which failed last year due to technical issues. But this year we are prepared and are awaiting suitable weather. The record flight will take place in Russia, and it will be the longest flight without landing, lasting about 35 hours. Over the last month, we have been conducting 24-hour monitoring of weather conditions, wind direction, and so on. On January 14, we observed that the weather conditions would be favorable for us on January 17, so we decided to carry out this exceptional flight from Gyumri to Yerevan over Aragats," he said.

According to Barseghyan, they launched their flight from Vardanants Square in Gyumri, reached the summits of Aragats at an altitude of 6,100 meters, and then landed in Yeghvard. This also provided a great opportunity to test special equipment and technical means, as the air temperature is expected to drop to -35°C. The record-setting flight in Russia is scheduled for February, when weather conditions will allow for such a long duration flight, as the hot air balloon only travels in the direction of the wind and because of its speed.