Qatar Executive, together with the One More Orbit team, has made history by beating the world circumnavigation speed record for any aircraft flying over the North and South poles, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
The Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER departed Cape Canaveral, the home of NASA, on Tuesday 9 July at 9.32am to begin its pole to pole mission. The One More Orbit team were on board, consisting of NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Action Aviation Chairman Hamish Harding, while the Qatar Executive crew consists of three pilots Jacob Obe Bech, Jeremy Ascough and Yevgen Vasylenko, engineer Benjamin Reuger and flight attendant Magdalena Starowicz.
The mission was split into the four sectors; Nasa Shuttle landing facility in Florida to Astana, Astana to Mauritius, Mauritius to Chile and Chile back to Nasa, Florida, with refueling pit stops in each location. The aircraft landed at Kennedy Space Centre on Thursday 11 July, successfully setting a new world record of flying pole to pole in 46 hours, 39 minutes and 38 seconds.
A first for Qatar Executive which will be certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™. Qatar Executive is the world’s largest owner-operator of the G650ER aircraft, the fastest ultra-long range business jet in the industry. It is powered by two Rolls-Royce BR725 engines, the latest and most advanced member of the BR700 engine series, with 7,500 nautical mile (13,890 km) range.
Qatar Executive currently operates a fleet of 18 state-of-the-art private jets, including six Gulfstream G650ERs, four Gulfstream G500s, three Bombardier Challenger 605s, four Global 5000s and one Global XRS.
One More Orbit is a multinational attempt to break the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the earth via both poles, in a Qatar Executive Gulfstream G650ER ultra long-range business jet.