Nineteen-year-old aims to become youngest woman to fly solo round the world

A 19-year-old student will attempt to become the first Belgian and the youngest woman to fly solo around the world when she takes off in her Shark ultralight plane from Brussels on Wednesday.

Zara Rutherford, who has British and Belgian nationality, expects to take three months to complete the circumnavigation which will take her across the Atlantic, Greenland, Canada and South America, then up to Alaska and across Russia before she heads towards Indonesia and then returns to Europe.

“My entire family are pilots, so I have been flying my entire life and I started formal training when I was 14 and I got my licence last year,” she told reporters. “My parents are completely on board. My mum took some convincing, but she got there. My dad is very supportive and is helping with the logistics.”

“The greatest challenge will be the remote places like northern Russia or Greenland – there aren’t many people who live there so if anything were to go wrong, I would be in a bit of an awkward situation. I’ve got a bit of nerves and excitement, sometimes both.”

“The route has been chosen to fulfil Guinness World Records’ requirements to be an ‘around the world flight’ and currently takes in 52 countries and crosses the equator twice,” she added. “It was only when I started researching more that I noticed I could be the first Belgian and the youngest woman to solo circumnavigate the globe. I’m hoping to get more girls interested in aviation.”

The self-funded attempt, she admits, just started out as an adventure during her gap year before starting university. Zara then discovered she could break a record if she completed the challenge.

This record is currently held by American pilot Shaesta Waiz who was 30 when she completed her circumnavigation in 2017. The youngest male pilot to fly solo around the world is 18-year-old Travis Ludlow from the UK.

“I am incredibly excited and can’t wait,” she concluded. “There will be many challenges on the way but experiencing all these cultures and their food will be amazing and worth it. I'm most looking forward to South America and Greenland.”