Abu Dhabi, UAE – Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has honoured its high flying executive Andrew Fisher following his record-breaking feat of travelling around the globe in the fastest time and in the fewest number of flights.
Clocking
a flying time of 52 hours and 34
minutes, Andrew managed to beat the previous record by 3 hours and 13 minutes,
and using only four scheduled commercial flights instead of five to
achieve his lifelong ambition.
The
Guinness World Records has officially declared his successful attempt a world
record.
Etihad
Airways acknowledged Andrew’s achievement with a reception at its Abu Dhabi
headquarters, where the record breaker shared a video and experience of his
marathon round-the-world journey, and where colleagues joined in a food fest of
culinary delights from the destinations he visited.
Andrew’s
journey covered 41,375 km on scheduled flights operated by Air New Zealand, KLM
and China Eastern that took him from Shanghai to Auckland; Buenos Aires to
Amsterdam; and back to Shanghai.
“It’s
an incredible feeling to have finally achieved my dream,” recalled Andrew,
Etihad Airways Vice President Fleet Planning, after
touching down at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai.
“Although
I managed only 16 hours of sleep throughout the journey, I still felt fresh,
perhaps due to the adrenalin and excitement at completing this unique
experience. And it’s a great feeling to be part of a company that encourages
and enables its employees to pursue their dreams.”
Peter
Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer, added: “On behalf of
employees across the company, I congratulate Andrew for this remarkable
achievemen
“This
feat requires significant commitment, dedication and perseverance – values that
we at Etihad instil in all our employees, and we are extremely proud to have
Andrew as a member of our Etihad family.”
New
Zealander Andrew, who joined Etihad Airways in 2007, and who has a passion for
studying airline route networks and schedules, meticulously charted his
journey. He targeted the record for over 20 years, and was first keen to
attempt to break it as a teenager.
“With
the advent of new longer range and fuel-efficient aircraft over the years,
airlines have been able to introduce non-stop long haul flights and add
frequencies that facilitated my record-breaking attempt,” commented Andrew.
“Planning
the trip was a matter of identifying the most suitable qualifying antipodal
city pairs and then finding the best routes, schedules and tightest possible
connections within the right window of opportunity.”
Andrew
had a few words of encouragement for those pursuing their ambitions: “Never
give up on your dream no matter how unrealistic it might seem to others. Take
every opportunity to follow your passion.”
Click here to view Andrew's journey inforgraphic.