There are plane tickets that allow you to travel around the world. Moreover, such a ticket is valid for 1 year and includes up to 16 flights, so this is a kind of multi-ticket. You can fly to different continents on one ticket, and such a ticket can save a lot of money and time, especially if you have chosen a popular tourist route. You immediately book all your tickets to all destinations, so there will be no surprises on your trip. But for such tickets, strict rules which must be strictly observed. Round the world tickets are called “RTW tickets” (Round the World).

How it works

Such tickets are sold by large associations of airlines (alliances). By purchasing this ticket, you can fly with all airlines that are part of the alliance. At the moment, there are 3 large alliances: Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam (which includes Aeroflot), and it is best to buy such tickets from the first two, because. these alliances have many more partners, which means you will have more choice of flights.

Example of an RTW ticket. Flight from Moscow: Moscow - New Delhi (India) - Bangkok (Thailand) - Beijing (China) - Los Angeles (USA) - New York (USA) - London - Moscow.

RTW Ticket Rules

There are strict rules for such tickets:

• Ticket valid for 1 year
• You need to move in one direction (east or west)
• There are no return routes
• The journey starts and ends in the same country
• All flights and stops must be booked in advance.
• If you miss one of the flights, all subsequent flights will be canceled

Star Alliance

Here, the conditions for issuing a ticket depend on the length of your route. There are 3 types of tickets in total: 29,000 miles, 34,000 miles and 39,000 miles. 29,000 miles to visit 3 continents, 34,000 miles to visit 4 continents, 39,000 miles to visit every continent.

You can stay in 15 places in total. If you stay in one city for more than a day, then this is considered a stop. There is also an Economy Fare that covers 26,000 miles with 5 stops. The system has a rule: the more miles the ticket is calculated for, the more stops you can make.

You need to start and end the trip in the same country, but not necessarily the same city. You can fly from one end of the continent to the other, but it is forbidden to fly over the same ocean several times (we only move from west to east or from east to west).

Even if you flew to Rome and went to Milan by train, the distance traveled by train will be counted towards the total number of miles. Official website - www.staralliance.com.

one world

This alliance offers two types of tickets: 1) with a limited number of flights 2) with a limited maximum mileage. The first type of ticket has 3 subtypes: 26,000 miles, 29,000 miles and 39,000 miles for economy class; 34,000 miles for business class and 34,000 miles for first class. It also counts miles traveled by other means of transport.

The second type of ticket is not limited by the number of miles. Only flights count. There must be less than 16 of them. Moreover, if you are flying from Novosibirsk to Paris with a transfer in Moscow, then this is considered 2 flights. This type of ticket is the best (at least for me): You can safely travel by other transport, you can ignore the miles. Official site - www.oneworld.com.

Skyteam

The conditions are the same as those of Star Alliance, but the journey will be more expensive. If the main stops are in Russia, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, then this is a suitable alliance, but not for other countries. Official website - www.skyteam.com.

How much are

Prices for these tickets vary greatly. Prices depend mainly on the number of miles and stops. Most tickets sold in the price range from $2500 to $8000. The date and time of flights can be changed if you do not change the direction of flights. If you want to add an additional stopover, you will be charged a large fine, so think very carefully about the exact flight.

Where can I buy

Buying tickets on alliance sites is quite expensive. Better use third party schedulers round-the-world travel, in many cases it will be cheaper. The best such service is this. It does not sell "multi-tickets", it draws up possible travel routes using the cheapest tickets of DIFFERENT airlines. Those. this service can purchase regular air tickets from different alliances, and from them you get a round-the-world trip, and much cheaper than you would pay for one "multi-ticket" from an air alliance. There are also no RTW ticket rules, no mileage or stopover requirements. There are also AirTreks-like services such as Roundtheworldflights.com and www.ticketsroundtheworld.com, but AirTreks is the one I recommend. This service has proven itself only on the positive side and has been working for a long time.

Who should buy

RTW tickets are beneficial to buy for those people who have a tight schedule: they know for sure that from such and such a date they have a vacation and that they are free for this period. For such people, RTW tickets will save a lot of time and money. But keep in mind that you first need to find a cheap ticket, and they are usually sold on popular tourist routes.

Highly recommend before buying an RTW ticket, make your own itinerary and estimate how much the trip will cost if you buy tickets on your own one by one. In some cases, self-selection of tickets will allow even reduce costs per trip compared to buying an RTW ticket. I wrote about how to buy, look for and buy cheap tickets at.

If you can follow all the rules of the alliances, then buy an RTW ticket, it can save up to 30% of the cost of the entire flight. But if you suddenly want to change the places of stops, you will pay a large fine, which will destroy all your savings. Want to save on airfare when traveling around the world? Follow the rules.

How to find the cheapest ticket

RTW ticket prices vary from the original place of departure. Choose routes from different cities and you will find the cheapest ticket. Recently, the cheapest departure points are London, Egypt and Bulgaria. Choosing Russia as the starting point of departure would be an expensive decision, it would be cheaper to fly to London on a regular flight, and from there to start a round-the-world trip.

Fly when ticket demand is at its lowest.. Those. when there are no holidays for schoolchildren, there are no mass holidays for workers. You can read more about saving on air tickets.

Use the frequent flyer program. In Russia, this is, although there are very good foreign analogues. For one round-the-world trip, you will receive at least one more flight to another country for free.

Consider taxes and fees. Most often they are not included in the cost of RTW tickets, and this can be several thousand rubles for one country.

Consider the cost of obtaining visas. Because If you visit many countries, then there will be many visas, which will significantly affect the cost of travel.

Can't skip flights. If you miss one of the flights, then all the following will be canceled. In some cases, you can call the airline and sort out the problem, so if something goes wrong, call the airline immediately.

Get vaccinated. Some countries require vaccination. So, for example, if you are flying from Brazil, then in Australia you will be required to confirm vaccination without fail. And keep in mind that some vaccinations need to be done in advance.

Travel around the world and enjoy life. Take action! All the best!

The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft, powered by solar panels, has completed its round-the-world trip.

On Sunday, he flew from Cairo in the direction of Abu Dhabi. This 48-hour route became the finish line in the circumnavigation of the world, which began on March 9, 2015. In total, the aircraft covered 35 thousand km, moving at a speed of 60-120 km/h. For 16 months, the plane landed in 15 cities around the world. And last summer, he set the record for the longest non-stop stay in the air, flying continuously for more than 120 hours.

What kind of winged machine is this, which once again clearly proved that science and technology are driving humanity forward faster and faster? The most surprising thing is that Solar Impulse 2 is just a single-seat aircraft, the cockpit of which resembles the interior of a small car. But that's where the usual comparisons end.

So, the aircraft is built of carbon fiber and has huge wings: a span of 72 m. This is slightly less than that of the world's largest passenger aircraft Airbus 380 (79.75 m) and more than the Boeing-747 (68.5 m ). At the same time, the sunflower weighs only 2.3 tons. Recall: the weight of an empty Airbus 380 is 280 tons, and Boeing 747 - 214.5 tons!

The planes of the giant wings and the upper part of the fuselage of the aircraft are covered with solar cells - these are over 17 thousand cells of single-crystal silicon solar cells. The thickness of each is only 135 microns. They are driven by four electric motors with a capacity of 17.5 horsepower. The aircraft can reach speeds up to 140 km/h.

By the way, this is not the first solar-powered aircraft. But, as experts emphasize, Solar Impulse 2 is the most efficient of all such designs. Indeed, five days in the sky without landing is, of course, cool. It can be recalled that the legendary first non-stop flight from Moscow to the USA via the North Pole by the crew of Valery Chkalov in 1937 lasted 63 hours and 16 minutes. And until recently, pilots spent 19 hours on the world's longest non-stop flight from New York to Singapore ... It is clear that comparing the Chkalovsky ANT-25, passenger Airbus A340-500 and Solar Impulse 2, to put it mildly, is not correct. But the fact remains.

Infographics WG/Anton Peterletchikov/Natalia Yachmennikova

How could pilots survive five days in the tiny cockpit of Solar Impulse 2? Firstly, we trained - we spent 72 hours in special simulators, studied the techniques of yoga, breathing and self-hypnosis. Secondly, the pilot's seat works simultaneously as a reclining bunk, and as a sports simulator, and as a toilet .. The pilot slept for 20 minutes - at these moments he put the plane on autopilot. Parachute, life raft and survival kit are also packed in the back of the seat

At night, the "solar plane" flew on energy-intensive batteries charged during the day. Ammonia-alkaline electrolyte for batteries made it possible to obtain higher energy density, experts explain.

This miracle machine can withstand the weight of only one person. Therefore, two pilots - Swiss psychiatrist Bertrand Picard and businessman Andre Borshberg - flew in turn.

Bertrand Piccard in 1999 made the first non-stop flight around the Earth in a hot air balloon. He belongs to the well-known Picard family. His father, Jacques Picard, was the first to reach the bottom of the Mariinsky Trench in a bathyscaphe in 1960. And his grandfather Auguste Piccard was the first to rise into the stratosphere in a balloon in 1931.

The route was deliberately laid out through favorable weather regions, with the maximum number of sunny days. However, both the organizers of the flight and the pilots themselves were well aware of how high the degree of risk was. Especially when flying across the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic. Even the "worst scenario" was not ruled out - ejection and splashdown into the ocean ...

With our attempt at the first round-the-world flight, no matter how it ends, we want to show the world that clean technologies and renewable energy sources are already making it possible to achieve what was previously considered impossible, Picard said before the flight. “We want governments, leaders and especially young professionals to see that everything that Solar Impulse 2 can achieve in the air can soon become part of everyday life.

However, experts are not so optimistic in their assessments of the prospects for the sunflower: we will not see such commercial aircraft for a very long time. They have little power, they cannot lift a lot of weight into the air and fly at high speeds. The sun does not have enough "energy density" in order to lift planes that should fly somewhere in a reasonably short time, experts say. And one of the aviation authorities bluntly stated: for solar aircraft, the goal is just to be in the air, and not to fly at the right speed. Whatever one may say, the circumnavigation of the world without a drop of kerosene is rather a demonstrator of the possibilities of using solar energy for experimental purposes.

Despite the fact that Solar Impulse 2 will not revolutionize the aircraft industry, there are benefits from the project: for example, engineers had to make aircraft engines extremely efficient. Solar Impulse 2 engines lose only 3 percent of their energy through heat, while in a conventional aircraft this figure reaches 70 percent.

Meanwhile

One of the most promising substitutes for aviation kerosene is biofuel. According to experts, its share in transport by 2020 may reach up to 25 percent. There are already about a dozen variants of products and plants from which a new type of aircraft "fuel" is obtained. Algae, coconuts, Brazil nuts, plants of the genus Jatropha (a woody shrub with large oily seeds), non-food animal fats are used.

Round the world non-stop flights

The world's first non-stop flight around the world took place in 1949.

The plane returned to the same airfield on March 2, covering a distance of 37,742 km in 94 hours and 1 minute. The average speed was 401 km/h. In flight, the bomber's fuel reserves were replenished four times with the help of tanker aircraft.

The first non-stop flight around the globe without refueling was made on December 14–23, 1986 by Dick Rutan and Gina Yeager in a Rutan Model 76 Voyager.

Aircraft with two piston engines was built by aircraft designer Burt Rutan specifically for setting a record. The flight lasted 216 hours 3 minutes and 44 seconds. In total, the aircraft covered 42,432 km at an average speed of 186.11 km/h.

On March 1–3, 2005, entrepreneur and aviator Steve Fossett set the world speed record for non-stop manned flight around the world without refueling on a Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.

A single-seat turbojet powered aircraft, built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, flew around the Earth in 67 hours, 1 minute and 46 seconds. The average flight speed was 590.7 km / h, the aircraft covered a distance of 36,912 km.

Flight duration records

On July 12-14, 1937, the crew of Mikhail Gromov, Andrei Yumashev and Sergei Danilin on the ANT-25 improved the achievements of their colleagues by making a non-stop flight over a distance of 11,500 km in 62 hours and 17 minutes along the route Moscow - San Jacinto (California, USA).

The record for the duration of piloting an aircraft with refueling was set in 1959 in the United States.

Robert Timm and John Cook took off in a specially prepared Cessna 172 light aircraft from McCarran Airport (Las Vegas, Nevada) on December 4, 1958. The aircraft circled non-stop over the airfield for 64 days 22 hours 19 minutes 5 seconds and on February 5, 1959 made a soft landing. Refueling of the aircraft in the air was carried out twice a day with the help of a fuel truck moving along the territory of the airfield.

The record for the longest aircraft flight without refueling was set in 2015 during André Borschberg's round-the-world flight on the Solar Impulse 2 electric aircraft.

In the period from June 28 to July 3, on the section Nagoya (Japan) - Hawaii (USA), Borshberg covered a distance of 7,212 km in 117 hours and 52 minutes. At the same time, he set a record for the longest non-stop flight for electric aircraft. The round-the-world flight itself was interrupted due to problems with the aircraft's batteries.

The record for the longest unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight was set by the QinetiQ Zephyr 7 at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground (Arizona). The UAV stayed in the air for two weeks - 336 hours 22 minutes and 8 seconds.

Longest non-stop scheduled flights

100 great records of aviation and astronautics Zigunenko Stanislav Nikolaevich

Flying around the world

Flying around the world

The idea of ​​ultra-long non-stop flights, as mentioned above, originated in the 30s of the XX century. Our famous pilot V.P. Chkalov even dreamed of "waving around the ball" - that is, flying around the globe without landing.

It turns out that these were not just dreams. Pilots M. M. Gromov and G. F. Baidukov, designers A. N. Tupolev, A. D. Charomsky, A. S. Moskalev and others became participants in one of the most daring projects for that time. Not many now know that in 1936-1941, with their active participation, an ultra-long flight of the ANT-25 aircraft along the 56th parallel (the latitude of Moscow) with a length of 22,500 km was prepared.

The ANT-25 was to be equipped with a 2000-horsepower AN-1 diesel engine developed at the Central Institute of Aviation Motors. In terms of efficiency, it had no equal: the specific fuel consumption was half that of the then, and even the current gasoline carburetor engines - 0.140-0.145 kg / l. With. hour versus 0.24–0.28 kg/l. With. hour. And since diesel is cheaper than gasoline, the gains were even greater.

But the war prevented this expedition from being carried out.

However, abroad, something in this direction managed to be carried out even before the war. So, back in 1924, in the period from April 4 to September 28, the first round-the-world flight was made on two Douglas DWC aircraft. True, at first 4 aircraft started from Seattle (Washington State). But two of them dropped out along the way due to technical problems.

And only planes No. 2 "Chicago" and plane No. 4 "New Orleans" reached the finish line, which were piloted respectively by crews consisting of Lowell Smith and Leslie Arnold, as well as Eric Nelson and John Harding Jr.

For 175 days, the aircraft covered a distance of 44,340 km. At the same time, the net flight time was 371 hours 11 minutes.

Then all the male pilots were surrounded by a woman. The Englishwoman V. Bruce on the Blackburn Bluebird IV aircraft in the period from September 25, 1930 to February 20, 1931 made the first round-the-world flight in a light aircraft. Of course, during the flight, the pilot made many intermediate landings: in Istanbul, Baghdad, Karachi, Rangoon, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seattle, Vancouver, New York, Plymouth, Le Bourget and Croydon, but still completed the journey she had begun to end.

By the way, relatively recently, an American pilot Jerry Mock made a similar flight. In March - April 1964, she circled the globe in 29 days on a Cessna 180 Spirit of Columbus light aircraft, completing her flight by landing at an airfield in Columbus (Ohio).

But the men were already following Bruce. First, a record round-the-world flight lasting 8 days 15 hours 51 minutes was made on June 23 - July 1, 1931 by pilot Willie Post and his navigator Harold Gatti on a Lockheed Vega plane (Winnie May).

And only after that, Willie Post on the Monoplane Lockheed "Vega", named by him "Winnie May", made a male solo flight around the world on July 15-22, 1933. Taking off from Floyd Bennett Field in New York, he flew a distance of 25,099 km in 7 days 18 hours 49 minutes.

Then Elgen Long, in Piper's twin-engine Navajo, made the first round-the-world flight over the Earth's poles. For the period from November 5 to December 3, 1971, he covered a total distance of 62,597 kilometers in 215 hours of flight. Moreover, when flying over Antarctica, the temperature in the cockpit dropped to -40 ° C.

In July 1978, the first round-the-world flight in two light aircraft was made by Frank Hale Jr. with co-pilot Walter J. Hedren and William G. Wisner with co-pilot Bruce C. Wisner in Beach Bonanza machines. The US National Aeronautics Association officially registered this achievement and issued a certificate to the pilots, certifying that the aircraft covered a distance of 38,380 kilometers in 159.91 hours of net flight time.

The first round-the-world flight in a single-engine aircraft across the poles of the Earth was made in 1987 by Richard Norton and Kalin Rosetti. Having taken off on a Piper RA-46-ZYUR Malibu aircraft on January 21 from Le Bourget, the pilots completed the flight there on June 15, covering a distance of 55,268 kilometers in 185 hours and 41 minutes of flight time.

But the first plane that made a “clean” non-stop round-the-world flight without refueling was Voyager by Voyager Aircraft Inc. It was a high aspect ratio monoplane trimaran built from composite materials as conceived by Bart Rutan. Launched on December 14, 1986 from Edwards Air Force Base, Voyager, flown by Bart's brother Dick Rutan and his partner Gina Yager, returned there 9 days 3 minutes 44 seconds later. Thus, absolute world records for flight distance in a straight line and along a circular route, equal to 40,212.139 km, were immediately set.

By the way, in the same 1986, in 33 hours, the Concorde plane also flew around the globe, taking off and then landing in Lisbon. Interestingly, during the flight, he overtook the night all the time and flew only in daylight. It's been such a long day.

Now, the Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner, which was presented to the public on February 15, 2005, claims to be the most "long-range" liner. According to a press release, it is capable of carrying 301 passengers over a maximum distance of 17,446 km. That is, in fact, the Boeing 777-200LR Worldliner is able to connect any two cities on the planet, eliminating the need for transfers.

Finally, in March 2007, famous American businessman and traveler Steve Fossett famously set a new record. Previously, he circled the globe alone in a hot air balloon, and now he has done the same in an airplane.

First, he traveled around the world on a yacht. Then in 2002, after a series of unsuccessful attempts, he entered the Guinness Book of Records, flying around the globe alone in 14 days in a balloon. And finally, I decided to make the same trip by plane.

First, he tried to buy and convert a decommissioned Concorde supersonic passenger aircraft for this purpose. However, the deal did not take place. Some say it happened because the sellers asked too much for the old plane. Others say that, on reflection, Fossett refused to buy it himself - it is difficult to pilot such a colossus alone; Yes, and this aircraft giant is painfully gluttonous.

And then he went the beaten path - he turned to the designer of the record-breaking Voyager aircraft, Bart Rutan, asking him to remake Voyager for a solo flight. On reflection, Bart Rutan abandoned the idea of ​​​​altering, citing the fact that it would be impossible for one person to withstand more than a week's flight. And he proposed to create a new, faster aircraft that could make such a flight 2-3 times faster.

Assembly of the aircraft began in September 2002. At the same time, the only metal structures on the plane (not counting the electronics and engine) were aluminum landing gear and engine mount.

Everything else was made of carbon fiber and other composites. As a result, 83% of the weight fell on fuel. (By the way, Voyager had a fuel weight of 72%.)

While the flight tests of the aircraft were underway, Steve Fossett himself was preparing for the flight. First, despite his 60 years, he ran up to 8 miles every morning, keeping fit, and also regularly improved his flying skills. Secondly, on his order, nutritionists developed a special menu for the flight, which consisted mainly of a chocolate-protein fortified cocktail, the dry mixture of which had to be diluted with milk during the flight. A dry closet the size of a desk drawer was placed in the cockpit, and the pilot's seat itself was laid out so that the pilot could control the flight while lying down most of the way. Of course, the autopilot was not forgotten either, which could independently fly the aircraft, requesting its coordinates from the GPS system and adjusting the route so that tailwinds would increase the flight speed by 90–180 or more kilometers per hour.

And so, on March 3, 2005, Steve Fossett carefully dispersed the “flying tank” along the 5-kilometer runway of the Salina airfield in California and lifted the overloaded car into the air. The most dangerous phase of the flight was over.

It was easier after that. Although, too, it was not without trouble. Either the navigation system went haywire, or the fuel consumption turned out to be more than calculated (1180 kg generally disappeared somewhere in an incomprehensible way - perhaps they evaporated through microcracks in the tank) ... So the last day the pilot did not sleep at all, he was worried and worried. They say he even took special medications to keep his body in good shape. But on the last liters of fuel, he still reached the same runway where he started, finishing his flight 67 hours and 2 minutes after the start.

In the future, the same Fossett intended to try to make a round-the-world flight in a glider, completely without fuel. However, his premature death while preparing for the next expedition in early 2008 put an end to this project.

However, Fossett was not alone in his pursuit. There is also an idea to lay a flight route strictly along the equator or, on the contrary, along the meridian through both poles. Finally, there is a proposal by our designer and sportsman V. Belokon to arrange round-the-world races on aircraft of this type, similar to how cruising yachts now go around the globe. Fortunately, there are already projects.

“Several years ago, we were offered to create a car better than Rutanov’s,” said E. G. Komelev, design engineer at the Myasishchev EMZ. “Our aircraft should make such flights not a feat, but a daily routine.”

According to the EMZ project, the aircraft should be of a two-beam design (it has already been tested when creating high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft M-17 and M-55) and have the following characteristics: wingspan - 31.88 m; fuselage length -9.5 m; weight - 5300 kg, and about 4 thousand kg of them will be for fuel.

Will it be better than Rutanovsky? It's not easy to answer. Our designers do not yet have sufficient experience in applying the latest materials. And whether such an aircraft will be able to overcome the planned route Moscow - Odessa - Bosphorus - Gibraltar - Panama - Indonesia - Red Sea - Iran - Caspian Sea - Moscow without landing, with a total length of 40,500 km in 7 days, only time will tell.

But in general, as you can see, humanity does not intend to rest on what has been achieved.