After Many Hurdles, Solar Plane Finally On Way to Varanasi

After several hurdles, as the world's first solar plane finally took off from Ahmedabad for Varanasi - the only stretch in India it will fly - the team that was to receive it in the temple town was still stuck in Ahmedabad.

Tweets from Solar Impulse said the project's president and co-pilot Bertrand Piccard still needed stamps on his passport and appealed for help. After several hours, the suspense was over.
This was not the first hurdle the landmark flight had to face. Andre Borschberg, the project's co-founder and pilot for the Ahmedabad-Varanasi leg, and Mr Piccard said they had to spend more than a week in Ahmedabad.

The take-off for Varanasi was to happen on Sunday. But the flight had to be postponed due to bad weather. Later, it was scheduled for departure on Tuesday, which was postponed by yet another day.

"The delay is administration," Mr Borschberg had told the media. "I am not here to accuse anybody. Since past five days, we have been trying to get all the stamps and paperwork. But every day, they say tomorrow."

Government sources told NDTV after landing at Ahmedabad, Mr Picard didn't get his immigration or customs checks done and there was a delay in his filing the necessary applications. The matter was sorted out at the last moment.  

The Airports Authority has waived the entire parking and airport charges about Rs 50 lakh as a goodwill gesture, sources said.

Solar Impulse 2 landed in Ahmedabad near midnight on March 10. The flight had covered the journey from Oman's capital, Muscat, in a little less than 16 hours.

The Ahmedabad-Varansi leg - a journey of over 1070 km - will take approximately 15 hours for the solar-powered plane.

From Varanasi, the plane will fly to Myanmar.