World's first solar-powered plane takes off for Varanasi from Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: The world’s only ‘zero-fuel’ aircraft ‘Solar Impulse-2’ on Wednesday took off from Ahmedabad for the holy city of Varanasi as a part of its round-the-world trip. [caption id=“attachment_2160091” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Solar Impulse 2 is the world’s first solar-powered plane. AP[/caption] Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg flew the aircraft from Ahmedabad at 7.18 am local time. The flight was delayed by about two hours from its scheduled departure, said a press release from the SI-2 team. “Andre Borschberg and Si2 are airborne in India, flying from Ahmedabad to Varanasi, entirely Powered By The Sun,” SI-2 team said in a tweet on Wednesday. “The tent hosting Si2 in Ahmedabad is now empty and the solar airplane on its way to Varanasi,” it further tweeted. The globe-trotting SI-2 landed at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad on 10 March, after a nearly 15-hour flight from Muscat. Borschberg, the project’s co-founder, and co-pilot and project President Bertrand Piccard spent over a week in the city during the plane’s stopover in Ahmedabad. The aircraft began its journey on 9 March from Abu Dhabi. Swiss pilot Piccard had flown the plane from Muscat to Ahmedabad, while Borschberg on Wednesday flew the world’s first solar-powered aircraft to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. From Varanasi, the SI-2 is scheduled to fly to Mandalay in Myanmar, Chongqing and Nanjing in China and thereafter to the US. PTI