Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov breaks world hot air balloon record

Sydney: Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov has broken the record for the fastest round-the-world flight in a hot air balloon, his crew said Saturday, surviving a gruelling endurance test of storms and freezing temperatures.

Flight coordinator John Wallington said Konyukhov, who took off from Western Australia on July 12, had successfully flown the route by Saturday afternoon. He landed before dark.

His journey, taking just over 11 days, is faster than the record set by the late American adventurer Steve Fossett who in 2002 became the first person to fly solo around the world in a balloon in a feat which took 13 days. Wallington said Konyukhov had flown his helium and hot-air balloon almost exactly over his starting point.

The flight route has taken Konyukhov, who is in his 60s, from Australia to above New Zealand, across the Pacific Ocean, South America, the Cape of Good Hope and the Southern Ocean.