KARACHI: Two veteran French pilots and microlight planes enthusiasts Marc Perdu and Tiriault Christian aboard their Dynamic W29 microlight plane named Spirit of Noumea landed here Tuesday afternoon.
Commencing their voyage from Paris on September 18, 2011 Marc Perdu and Tiriault Christian aim to reach Nouméa (capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia) on November 14, 2011 after travelling some 21,481 kilometers, visiting 31 cities in 15 countries. These countries are Italy, Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Caledonia.
Just after their arrival at Karachi, both the French pilots Marc Perdu and Tiriault Christian visited Karachi Press Club and shared their views about their 22,000 kilometers traveling from Paris to Naumea.
French Consul General in Karachi Christian Ramage and Daniel Baillon, Director of French Cultural Center (Alliance Francaise de Karachi) were also present on this occasion.
They told that their flight is a tribute to French aviators Paul Klein and Henri Martinet’s groundbreaking 1939 plane journey from Nouméa to Paris. They plan to retrace their trail next year.
They pointed out that they are traveling through a small single engine plane. The fuel consumption of the plane is only 7 liters per 100 kilometers.
Speaking on this occasion, the French Consul General in Karachi Christian Ramage said that after a long gap of over 10 years, the first French plane landed at Karachi Airport some 10 days ago, with relief goods for flood affected people of Pakistan. He said it was first landing of any French plane after 10 years. The Air France had stopped their flights to Pakistan some 10 years ago. It is another special occasion when these two French pilots landed in Karachi, he said.
The French pilot Christian Tiriault said New Caledonia Island, located near Australia is French territory. Nouméa, the capital city of New Caledonia is some 22,000 kilometers away from Paris. “We are traveling in our Ultra-Light-Plane and our flight is a tribute to French aviators Paul Klein and Henri Martinet’s groundbreaking 1939 plane journey from Nouméa to Paris”, he added.“We are please to be here in Karachi as this is an important city in this region”, he said.
“We want to give message to our people living 22,000 kilometers away from Paris that they are from us”, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2011
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.