After 85 years, Poland will once again host the oldest and most prestigious aviation event in the world – the Gordon Bennett Cup. This year’s start of the 64th edition of the competition will take place at the Pomeranian Aero Club in Toruń, northern Poland, between August 19-28.

The first start of the Gordon Bennett Cup competition took place in 1906 in Paris with over 200,000 spectators.

The rules of the competition have remained the same from the very beginning – gas balloon pilots take off from the same place, at the same time and with the same amount of gas. Everyone is trying to achieve the longest possible distance from the place of take off to landing. Crews of two people spend 2-3 days together in one small basket, travelling hundreds of kilometres.

Polish balloon pilots are among the best in this sport discipline and won the Gordon Bennett Cup six times in 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1983 and 2018.