Varanasi: Solar Impulse-2, the world's first aircraft to be powered solely by solar energy is heading to Varanasi from Ahmedabad. While the aircraft's flight was delayed due to bad weather earlier, one of the pilots has now blamed slow immigration procedures for delaying the project.
The pilot Bertrand Piccard says he is yet to get immigration clearance which would mean the flight will be further delayed from Varanasi. The plane is on the third leg of its journey and is expected to go to Mandalay in Myanmar from Varanasi.
Solar Impulse-2 started from Abu Dhabi on March 9 and is expected to return there towards the end of July or early August after flying across the world.
The world's only solar-powered aircraft will make a stop over in Varanasi on Wednesday evening after hovering over river Ganga to spread the message of cleanliness and clean energy, as a part of its maiden global journey. The aircraft will land at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International airport in Varanasi.
"The plane took off today after a delay of two hours from its scheduled time from Ahmedabad. We are expecting it to reach at around 9 PM here, which is close to its earlier arrival schedule," said S K Malik, Director of Varanasi Airport.
The plane will first hover over the Ganga to spread the message of cleanliness and clean energy and subsequently land at the airport, he said.
The district authorities had given the permission, which was sought in advance by the Solar Impulse-2 (SI-2) team, to the aircraft for carrying out aerial videography of the Ganga ghats(banks).
"The permission for carrying out aerial videography of Ganga river along the ghats here has been granted to the SI-2," Additional District Magistrate Vindhyavasani Rai said.
"We are all prepared to give a warm welcome to Andre Borschberg, the project's co-founder and pilot, along with its co-pilot as well as project President Bertrand Piccard at the airport here," said Malik.
The aircraft took off for Varanasi from Ahmedabad on Wednesday after a week's stopover in the city as part of its round-the- world trip. The 'no-fuel', purely solar-powered aircraft was earlier scheduled to fly at 5.30 AM and reach Varanasi around 8.30 PM.
Swiss pilot Piccard had flown the plane from Muscat to Ahmedabad, while Borschberg is flying it to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The SI-2 is scheduled to fly to Mandalay in Myanmar from Varanasi on Thursday morning, Chongqing and Nanjing in China and thereafter to the US.
(With inputs from PTI)
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