The 22nd FAI European Hot Air Balloon Championship Takes Place In Szeged September 12-18

Szeged, Hungary, has been the host of the FAI HAB European Championship since 2016. The 5-day event includes the Szeged Balloon Cup and Szeged International Airshow. Szeged, the “city of sunshine” has the highest average number of sunny days (over 2000 hours/ year) and has become famous for hosting international airshows. This year’s event will take place September 12-18.

“Just before the Europeans will be the Szeged International Airshow - the biggest one in the region. The city is very excited to see more than a hundred balloons in the sky. The competitors are looking forward to competing in Hungary. The contest area is flat and easy to find places to take off and landing and competitors can make training flights during the Airshow,” says organizer, Zoltán Pálhegyi.

“During the competition itself, the judges and officials will be watching live progress of the flights and visitors and locals can follow all the flights online with just a 10-minute delay and we are planning to have online video streaming too.”

This year’s event welcomes competitors from 23 countries. Notable entrants include an entrant from Armenia for the first time, multiple world and European champions, a junior world champion, a five-time European champion, a women’s European champion, a nineteen-times Dutch, an eight-time Austrian, a seven-time Belgian, a six-time Hungarian, a five-time English, a five-time Latvian and a four-time French champion.

Zoltán Majó-Petri, the Managing Director of the Szeged Transport Company looks forward to the event.

“Here, in Szeged, the month of September has been about the art of aviation every year since 2016, but I can safely say that this year the European Championship will open a whole new chapter for the fans of hot air balloons.”

FMI: https://europeans2021.eu/, www.fai.org