Be an International Ballooning Ambassador
Cheer on the Teams @ World HABC in Hungary via FAI Ballooning Links
By Debbie Spaeth (USA), Chair CIA Public & Media Relations SubComm
The 25th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship will be held in Szeged, Hungary from September 8th -14th, 2024. Be a part of the excitement via the FAI Ballooning (CIA) social media links to this gathering of the World’s Top Competitors.
Visit the event website to learn more about Szeged and the Championship locale:
It will be a challenging event with pilots from +30 countries vying to be the next World Champion. Defending his title will be Stefan Zeberli (SUI), winner of the 24th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship in Slovenia.
Defending champion Stefan Zeberli (SUI)
As the reigning Champion, Stefan Zeberli will be facing a field that includes six former World Hot Air Balloon Champions. The former World HAB Champions participating are: David Bareford (UK), Yudai Fujita (Japan), Nick Donner (USA), Rhett Heartsill (USA), Joe Heartsill (USA) and Johnny Petrehn (USA).
Keep up with the competition 24/7 to see task information, competition results and standings via WatchMeFly.
The FAI Ballooning Commission (CIA) has partnered with the Hungarian Videographer for the Worlds and will be sharing daily videos and news via social media and the CIA news page. Be sure to like & share the Facebook posts of the Videos in the CIA series, Champions of the Sky.
Also, joining the CIA PMR team, coordinating with the video team and gathering story ideas for reporting from the WHABC, will be Lais Pinho (Brazil). Lais has been ballooning since 2003, and is a ballon pilot since 2011. She has participated in balloon events as competitor, crew, official and deputy director. She has flown in +9 countries and was a competitor at the 5th FAI Junior Hot Air Balloon Championship in 2021.
If you will be in Szeged, be sure to say hi to Lais when you see her during the week. And if you have a story or story idea, be sure to share it with Lais. Your help would be appreciated.
Be an International Ballooning Ambassador by joining in:
- Follow, Like & Share posts from the FAI Ballooning Facebook page.
- If you are posting something related to the Worlds in Szeged, use the hashtags:
#WHABC2024
#WorldsOnAir
#FAIBallooning
#airsports
#Szeged
#Hungary - FAI Ballooning YouTube Channel
To learn more about Hungary and Ballooning, check out these stories already on the FAI Ballooning News page:
- The world's best balloonists to compete in Hungary this September
- Hungarian Balloon Museum: Exploring the Legacy of Hot Air Ballooning: The Hungarian Experience
Header picture: Lais Pinho, Coordinating Stories from the FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship
