First circumnavigation in a solar-powered aeroplane (FAI-approved)

André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard (both Switzerland) flew around the world in Solar Impulse 2 between 9 March 2015 and 26 July 2016, powered entirely by energy from the Sun – as recorded by the FAI. Their starting and finishing point was Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Their total journey time was 505 days 19 hours 53 minutes, but for nearly 10 months of this time (July 2015–April 2016) the team were grounded in Hawaii, USA, owing to irreversible damage to overheated batteries in their aircraft. They resumed flying on 21 April 2016.

The team covered more than 43,000 km (26,718 miles) in their flight, and spent 23 days airborne. Rather than attempting a world record, the Solar Impulse team's prime motivation for the circumnavigation was to promote the potential of clean energies.