World's best hot air balloon pilots meet in Szeged in the beginning of September │ Szegedify

The 25th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship, bringing together the best pilots from 31 countries, kicks off in less than a month in Szeged.

At the press conference, presenting the most important information about the event last Friday, Sándor Nagy, deputy mayor for urban development said that tourism in Szeged has been continuously developing over the past two decades, with the number of overnight stays in the city increasing. To maintain this trend, it is necessary to have exciting and attractive programs for visitors to Szeged outside the high season, and the 25th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship, to be held between September 8-14, 2024, is one of them.

The competition attracts around a thousand competitors, family members, and judges. Still, experience from previous European Championships has shown that the sight of hot air balloons flying over the city is also attractive to tourists, the politician said.

Viktor Knezevics, managing director of Szeged Transport Company (SZKT), which operates Szeged Airport, the hub of the tournament, recalled that the city won the right to host the World Hot Air Balloon Championship after hosting the 2021 European Championship.

According to the already closed registration, 120 teams from 31 countries will take part in the World Championship, joined by 12 fiesta pilots, whose main aim is to entertain spectators. Teams from Australia, Canada, Japan, China, India, Brazil, and the United States, which finished top of the World Championship, will be present, as well as pilots from Colombia, Egypt, Israel, and Armenia, who will be taking part for the first time, he said.

Tamás Báló, Head of Airport Business Unit at SZKT, said that spectators can see hot air balloons in the sky already on the training days, between September 5-7. The races will be held between September 8-14, just after sunrise and before sunset.

The expert pointed out that hot air ballooning is a highly weather-dependent sport. From the 21 possible tasks to be completed, the competition director selects the one to be completed a few hours before the start, depending on the current wind conditions. During the competition, the public can find out about the daily start and finish locations on social media, and for the first time in the history of the World Championships, the website of the competition will also show – after a 10-minute delay – where the balloons are currently traveling.

At Kárász Street, the iconic street of downtown Szeged, shop windows and the street shades will be decorated to honor the event. At the end of the press conference, the ice cream "Égszínkrém" (ENG: Sky Cream), specially created for the 25th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship by A Capella Confectionery, was presented.