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Traveler Fedor Konyukhov plans first hot air balloon take off at North Pole

Fedor Konyukhov plans for the coming year to make the longest balloon flight from Murmansk to Chukotka along the northern latitudes

VLADIVOSTOK, September 24. /TASS/. Traveler Fedor Konyukhov plans to be the first in the world to use a hot air balloon to take off the North Pole in the summer of 2026, Transgaz's Director General, philanthropist, supporting the expedition, Ivan Molchanov said at TASS press center in Vladivostok.

"The weather on the North Pole is good in summer right from June to August. We are planning [an expedition]. In fact, no one has ever used a hot air balloon to take off the North Pole. There have been two routes - to fly to Alaska or to Yakutia. We, clearly, will fly towards Yakutia. The ball in fact has been made already," he said.

Konyukhov plans for the coming year to make the longest balloon flight from Murmansk to Chukotka along the northern latitudes, he continued. "Big preparations are underway. We hope, everything will be fine," he added.

In August, Fedor Konyukhov and pilot Ivan Menyaylo set a record as on a thermal balloon they flew at the height of 10,678 m in the Altai Region.

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