Sri Lanka welcomes Zara Rutherford, teen trying to set Guinness World Records

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Colombo International Airport, Ratmalana on Tuesday (27) welcomed Zara Rutherford, the 19-year-old, on her journey to break the Guinness World Records; the youngest woman to fly around the world, the first woman to circumnavigate the world in a microlight and the first Belgian to circumnavigate the world solo in a single-engine aircraft.

On the 18th of August 2021, 19 year old Belgian-British pilot Zara started a journey with a small aeroplane to fly solo around the world and she hopes to complete her 51,000-kilometre trip across five continents and 52 countries by mid-January 2022.

The CIAR is the 56th stop in her bid to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.

Aside from entering the record book, the teenager has expressed hope that her voyage will encourage girls and women to study and work in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and spark girls' interest in aviation.

Rutherford is seeking the title held by from Shaesta Wais, who became the youngest woman to fly solo round the world at age 30 in 2017. The youngest male record holder, Mason Andrews, was 18 years old when he made the journey in 2018.

The daughter of two pilots, Rutherford will start university next year, with the dream of becoming an astronaut.