The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world's air sports federation, was founded in 1905.It is a non-governmental and non-profit making international organisation with the basic aim of furthering aeronautical and astronautical activities worldwide. Ever growing, FAI is now an organisation of some 100 member countries.
Download "About FAI", a six-pages long introduction to the FAI available both in English and French languages.
At the start of the 20th Century, the pioneering flights of pilots such as Clement Ader, the Wright Brothers and Santos-Dumont, the proliferation of aeronautical competitions, and increasingly rapid technological advances marked the real birth of the modern aviation era.
A small group of men recognized the growing need for an international federation to coordinate and give direction to the rapidly growing aeronautical activity.
On 10 June 1905, Count Henri de la Vaulx, Vice President of the Aero Club of France, Major Moedebeck of the German Airship League and Fernand Jacobs, President of the Aero Club of Belgium, gave a presentation to the Olympic Congress of Brussels on their proposal for a "Fédération Aéronautique Internationale". The delegates received the idea warmly, and in token of its support the Olympic Congress adopted thefollowing resolution:"This Congress, recognizing the special importance of aeronautics, expresses the desire that in each country, there be created an Association for regulating the sport of flying and that thereafter there be formed a Universal Aeronautical Federation to regulate the various aviation meetings and advance the science and sport of Aeronautics."
On 12 October 1905, an international aeronautical conference was convened in Paris. After two days of debate, the representatives of Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the USA adopted the entire package of proposed Statutes. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale was founded on 14 October 1905. From its inception, the FAI defined its principal aims as being to"methodically catalogue the best performances achieved, so that they be known to everybody; to identify their distinguishing features so as to permit comparisons to be made; and to verify evidence and thus ensure that record-holders have undisputed claims to their titles." The statutes also specified that each body holding sporting powers (i.e. the national members of FAI) should retain full and autonomous control over its own affairs.
Ninety years old, faithful to the decisions of its founding fathers, but also because the principles then established remain valid, the FAI's Statutes still reflect the objectives defined in 1905.
However, the appearance of new technologies and modern equipment, and the birth of entirely new air sport disciplines have meant that the FAI's sphere of involvement has broadened - and continues to expand. New objectives are adopted to reflect developments in society and in the aspirations of those who practice air sports.
An international, non-profit-making, non-governmental organisation, the FAI's main aim is the development throughout the world of sport aviation and astronautical activities.
The current statutes describe in detail its specific objectives:
To fulfill these objectives and meet the needs of each air sport and area of activity, the organisational structure of FAI continues to evolve. From time to time, new Commissions are created.
At present, the FAI comprises these elements:
| since 2004 | : Pierre PORTMANN (France) |
| 2000 - 2004 | : Wolfgang WEINREICH (Germany) |
| 1994 - 2000 | : Eilif J. NESS (Norway) |
| 1992 - 1994 | : Dr. Hanspeter HIRZEL (Switzerland) |
| 1990 - 1992 | : Olavi A. RAUTIO (Finland) |
| 1988 - 1990 | : Clifton F. von KANN (USA) |
| 1986 - 1988 | : Georges Alfred "Peter" LLOYD, AO, OBE (Australia) |
| 1984 - 1986 | : Cenek KEPAK (Czechoslovakia) |
| 1982 - 1984 | : Amos ISHAI (Israel) |
| 1980 - 1982 | : Prince Antoine de LIGNE (Belgium) |
| 1978 - 1980 | : Desmond Percy KELLY (Australia) |
| 1976 - 1978 | : Adolph ("Pirat") GEHRIGER (Switzerland) |
| 1974 - 1976 | : Col. Bernard DUPERIER (France) |
| 1972 - 1974 | : André Olivier DUMAS (Canada) |
| 1970 - 1972 | : Fred FORRER (Switzerland) |
| 1969 - 1970 | : Prof. E. WEGELIUS (Finland) |
| 1967 - 1969 | : Hofrat Josef GAISBACHER (Austria) |
| 1966 - 1967 | : Vladimir K. KOKKINAKI (USSR) |
| 1964 - 1966 | : Mauricio OBREGON (Colombia) |
| 1962 - 1964 | : Dr. W. MURI (Switzerland) |
| 1960 - 1962 | : Jacques ALLEZ (France) |
| 1958 - 1960 | : Miss Jacqueline COCHRAN (USA) |
| 1956 - 1958 | : Général Av. Charles SILLEVAERTS (Belgium) |
| 1954 - 1956 | : Capt. K.J.G. BARTLETT (UK) |
| 1952 - 1954 | : Cornelio KOLFF (Netherlands) |
| 1950 - 1952 | : Baron A. de la GRANGE (France) |
| 1948 - 1950 | : William R. ENYART (USA) |
| 1946 - 1948 | : Lord BRABAZON of TARA (UK) |
| 1942 - 1946 | : Godfrey L. CABOT (USA) |
| 1930 - 1941 | : Prince Georges Valentin BIBESCO (Romania) |
| 1925 - 1930 | : Comte Henri de la VAULX (France) |
| 1905 - 1925 | : Prince Roland BONAPARTE (France) |
FAI activities include the establishment of rules for the control and certification of world aeronautical and astronautical records. FAI establishes regulations for air sporting events which are organised by member countries throughout the world. FAI also promotes skill, proficiency and safety in aeronautics. FAI confers medals, diplomas and other awards to those who have contributed to the achievement of these aims as well as for work done in the restoration of old aircraft.
In achieving these goals, FAI brings together people who take part in air sports from all over the world. They share the delight of gliding, the excitement of parachuting and ballooning, the fun of flying microlights and exercise their skill in aerobatics.
Within the framework of FAI, each air sport has an International Commission which is responsible formaking the rules for competitions and which generally oversees the activies of their particular air sport.
All FAI Contests, Championships and Record Setting activities are conducted under the direction of the FAI Air Sport Commissions. Other matters are dealt with by FAI Technical Commissions. These are listed later.
Regulations, rules or recommendations which have been accepted by the Commissions during their annual meetings are followed up by the delegates themselves at the national level and with Member-countries which need help developing their air sports.
Member-countries are represented in FAI by their principal National Airsport Control organisation. With nearly 100 members, FAI brings together at international level representatives of all air sport disciplines. FAI members are categorized as follows:
Click here to access to current list of FAI members.
The 102nd FAI General Conference 2008 will take place between 30 September and 05 October in the Grand Hotel Billia in St Vincent, Aosta (Italy). Registration will start at the beginning of May, please do not try to register beforehand.
The programme of events is as follows:
Tuesday 30 September
FAI Executive Board meeting
Wednesday 1 October
Air Sports Commission Presidents' meeting
Thursday 2 October
CASI meeting
Opening and Awards Ceremony in the evening in the Grand Hotel Billia
Friday 3 October
FAI General Conference plenary session in the Grand Palais
Saturday 4 October
FAI General Conference plenary session in the Grand Palais
Closing Banquet
Sunday 5 October
Day excursion to Turin and to the World Air Games site.
Transfers will be arranged from both Turin and Milan airport. Registration and further details, including information about the spouse programme, will appear at the end of April.
If you need any specific information at this stage, please contact Robert Hughes in the FAI Secretariat.
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The 103rd FAI General Conference will be held in Incheon (Korea) on 6-11 October 2009.
Information on past FAI General Conferences is available through the sub-pages listed below. Starting with the 2005 Centenary Conference, the records of conferences are available for downloading.
The 101st FAI General Conference was held in Greece on 11-14 October 2007.
Download the Minutes of the Plenary Sessions (annexes available separately, see below)
PDF document (version 1.4), 245 KB.
Download Annexes 1-27, 29-32 and 35-37 to the Minutes of the Plenary Sessions
PDF documents, 8.12 MB.
Annex 28: List of Vice-Presidents for 2007-2008.
Available online at http://www.fai.org/directory/vp.asp
Annex 33: International Calendar of Sporting Events 2008.
Available online at http://events.fai.org/
Annex 34: Calendar of FAI Meetings.
Available online at http://www.fai.org/general/meetings.asp
Annex 38: List of FAI Members.
Available online at http://www.fai.org/fai_members/
Click here for more information on the file formats used and the programs required to open, read and print the files available for downloading on this page.
The 100th FAI General Conference was held in Santiago (Chile) on 25-28 October 2006.
Download the Minutes of the Plenary Sessions (annexes available separately, see below)
PDF document, 197 Kb.
Download Annexes 1-42 to the Minutes of the Plenary Sessions
PDF documents, 10 MB.
Annex 43: List of Addresses of FAI Members.
Available online at http://www.fai.org/fai_members/
Click here for more information on the file formats used and the programs required to open, read and print the files available for downloading on this page.
The FAI Centenary Conference was held in Paris (France) on 12 - 14 October 2005.
Download the Minutes of the Plenary Sessions (annexes available separately, see below)
PDF document, 313 Kb.
Download Annexes 1-28, 3-35 and 37 to the Minutes of the Plenary Sessions
PDF documents, 1779 Kb.
Annex 29: International Calendar of Sporting Events for 2006.
Available online at http://events.fai.org
Annex 30: Calendar of FAI Meetings.
Available online at http://www.fai.org/general/meetings.asp
Annex 31: Delegates of FAI Commissions for 2005-2006.
Available online at http://www.fai.org/directory
Annex 32: List of FAI Vice-Presidents for 2005-2006.
Available online at http://www.fai.org/directory/vp.asp
Annex 36: List of Addresses of FAI Members.
Available online at http://www.fai.org/fai_members/
Click here for more information on the file formats used and the programs required to open, read and print the files available for downloading on this page.
| 2004 30 September - 02 October | MADRID (Spain) |
| 2003 09 - 11 October | KRAKOW (Poland) |
| 2002 08 - 12 October | DUBROVNIK (Croatia) |
| 2001 16 - 20 October | MONTREUX (Switzerland) |
| 2000 25 - 30 September | LINKÖPING (Sweden) |
| 1999 18 - 23 October | LIMASSOL (Cyprus) |
| 1998 28 Sep - 03 Oct | TOULOUSE (France) |
| 1997 20 - 25 October | RIO de JANEIRO (Brazil) (President Report) |
| 1996 14 - 20 October | BLED (Slovenia) (President Report) |
| 1995 06 - 13 October | SUN CITY (South Africa) |
| 1994 09 - 15 October | ANTALYA (Turkey) |
| 1993 11 - 17 October | TEL-AVIV (Israel) |
| 1992 13 - 19 September | ATHENS (Greece) |
| 1991 29 September - 5 October | BERLIN (Germany) |
| 1990 7 - 13 October | BUDAPEST (Hungary) |
| 1989 25 - 30 September | VARNA (Bulgaria) |
| 1988 9 - 15 October | SYDNEY (Australia) |
| 1987 06 - 11 September | STOCKHOLM (Sweden) |
| 1986 29 September - 4 October | MADRID (Spain) |
| 1985 17 - 23 November | NEW DELHI (India) |
| 1984 26 October - 01 November | PRAGUE (Czechoslovakia) |
| 1983 25 - 30 September | LOS ANGELES (U.S.A.) |
| 1982 12 - 18 September | BRUSSELS (Belgium) |
| 1981 26 - 30 October | TOKYO (Japan) |
| 1980 02 - 08 November | AUCKLAND (New Zealand) |
| 1979 28 October - 03 November | NICOSIA (Cyprus) |
| 1978 21 - 28 October | SANTIAGO DE CHILE (Chile) |
| 1977 02 - 08 October | ROME (Italy) |
| 1976 01 - 07 October | TEHRAN (Iran) |
| 1975 22 - 26 September | OTTAWA (Canada) |
| 1974 27 October - 2 November | SYDNEY (Australia) |
| 1973 2 - 7 September | DUBLIN (Ireland) |
| 1972 01 - 7 October | PARIS (France) |
| 1971 26 September - 2 October | LUCERNE (Switzerland) |
| 1970 21 - 28 November | NEW DELHI (India) |
| 1969 13 - 20 July | HELSINKI (Finland) |
| 1968 28 - 30 November | LONDON (United Kingdom) |
| 1967 8 - 15 October | ATHENS (Greece) |
| 1966 26 November - 4 December | SANTIAGO DE CHILE (Chile) |
| 1965 12 - 20 September | MUNICH (Germany) |
| 1964 17 - 25 October | TEL-AVIV (Israel) |
| 1963 12 - 22 October | MEXICO (Mexico) |
| 1962 26 September - 2 October | ATHENS (Greece) |
| 1961 12 - 22 October | MONACO |
| 1960 2 - 10 October | BARCELONA (Spain) |
| 1959 25 May - 2 June | MOSCOW (U.S.S.R.) |
| 1958 11 - 16 April | LOS ANGELES (U.S.A.) |
| 1957 22 - 29 June | PALERMO (Italy) |
| 1956 14 - 20 May | VIENNA (Austria) |
| 1955 17 - 25 June | PARIS (France) |
| 1954 20 - 27 September | ISTANBUL (Turkey) |
| 1953 14 - 22 May | THE HAGUE (The Netherlands) |
| 1952 3 - 11 May | MADRID (Spain) |
| 1951 4 - 11 July | BRUSSELS (Belgium) |
| 1950 28 May - 4 June | STOCKHOLM (Sweden) |
| 1949 2 - 9 September | CLEVELAND (U.S.A.) |
| 1948 26 September - 2 October | PARIS (France) |
| 1947 13 - 20 September | GENEVA (Switzerland) |
| 1946 10 - 13 September | LONDON (United Kingdom) |
| 1938 23 - 28 June | BERLIN (Germany) |
| 1937 22 - 27 June | LONDON (United Kingdom) |
| 1936 24 - 30 August | WARSAW (Poland) |
| 1935 9 - 12 September | DUBROVNIK (Yugoslavia) |
| 1934 6 - 12 October | WASHINGTON (U.S.A.) |
| 1933 20 - 25 December | CAIRO (Egypt) |
| 1933 10 January | PARIS (France) Extraordinary Conference |
| 1932 5 - 9 September | THE HAGUE (The Netherlands) |
| 1932 15 January | PARIS (France) Extraordinary Conference |
| 1931 6 - 14 June | BUCHAREST (Romania) |
| 1930 01 December | PARIS (France) Extraordinary Conference |
| 1930 10 - 15 June | PARIS (France) |
| 1929 19 - 22 June | COPENHAGEN (Denmark) |
| 1929 11 January | PARIS (France) Extraordinary Conference |
| 1928 24 - 26 June | BRUSSELS (Belgium) |
| 1928 5 January | PARIS (France) Extraordinary Conference |
| 1927 14 - 19 August | ZURICH (Switzerland) |
| 1926 9 - 19 October | ROME (Italy) |
| 1925 19 - 28 September | PRAGUE (Czechoslovakia) |
| 1924 21 - 29 June | PARIS (France) |
| 1923 8 - 12 August | GOTEBORG (Sweden) |
| 1922 10 - 16 October | ROME (Italy) |
| 1921 26 - 28 October | MADRID (Spain) |
| 1920 8 - 10 September | GENEVA (Switzerland) |
| 1919 22 - 24 October | BRUSSELS (Belgium) |
| 1919 19 - 21 May | PARIS (France) |
| 1913 31 July - 02 August | SCHEVENINGUEN-THE-HAGUE (The Netherlands) |
| 1913 28 - 29 January | PARIS (France) Extraordinary Conference |
| 1912 20 - 22 June | VIENNA (Austria) |
| 1911 25 - 27 November | ROME (Italy) |
| 1911 10 January | PARIS (France) Extraordinary Conference |
| 1910 27 - 28 October | PARIS (France) |
| 1909 30 September - 01 October | ZURICH (Switzerland) |
| 1909 11 - 12 January | LONDON (United Kingdom) Extraordinary Conference |
| 1908 27 - 29 May | LONDON (United Kingdom) |
| 1907 13 - 14 September | BRUSSELS (Belgium) |
| 1906 15 October | BERLIN (Germany) |
| 1905 12 - 14 October | PARIS (France) |
FAI Air Sports Commissions:
FAI Technical Commissions:
The Executive Board is the executive body of the FAI, implementing the policies and decisions of the General Conference and exercising those powers of the General Conference that are delegated to it by that body. The Executive Board, chaired by the FAI President, is jointly responsible to the General Conference for all decisions made and actions taken between General Conferences.
President:
Mr. Pierre PORTMANN
Executive Director (Finance):
Mr. Robert E. CLIPSHAM
Executive Directors:
Mr. Alvaro de ORLEANS BORBÓN
Mr. Willi ARPAGAUS
Mr. Bengt-Erik FONSELL
Mr. Michael HEUER
Mr. Jonghoon LEE
The FAI Executive Board can be emailed at executiveboard@fai.org
The FAI Secretariat is responsible for the day to day operations of FAI. The administrative staff is headed by the Secretary General, and the Secretariat is located in Lausanne, Switzerland, at the following address :
Avenue Mon Repos 24
CH-1005 - Lausanne
Switzerland
Telephone : +41 21 345 1070
Fax : +41 21 345 1077
* General Information : email the FAI Office
* Correspondence on records : email the FAI Office on World Record matters
* Max BISHOP (Secretary General)
* Thierry MONTIGNEAUX (Assistant Secretary General)
* Jean-Marc BADAN (Sports & Development Director)
* Robert HUGHES (General Projects Manager)
* Marcel MEYER (Executive Officer)
* Cosette MAST (Executive Secretary)
* Christine ROUSSON (Administrative Secretary)
You will find below links to the lists of FAI Officials, delegates and alternate delegates to the various FAI Commissions and Working Groups. If you are looking for a list of FAI Member Organisations, you should go to http://www.fai.org/fai_members/
CANS - Commission on Airspace and Navigation Systems
CASI - Air Sport General Commission
CIACA - Amateur-built Aircraft Commission
CIAM - Aeromodelling Commission
CIEA - Aviation & Space Education Commission
CIMP - Medico-physiological Commission
CIVL - Hang Gliding & Paragliding Commission
GAC - General Aviation Commission
FAI medals and diplomas aim at giving public recognition to those who have made outstanding contributions to aeronautics and astronautics, especially in the field of sporting aviation. They are awarded each year at the Opening Ceremony of the annual FAI General Conference. Many of the recipients honoured have had their names closely associated with the history and developments of aeronautics and astronautics.
The procedures governing nominations for FAI Medals and Diplomas are published in chapters 10 to 12 of the By-Laws to the FAI Statutes.
Download the complete list of the award-winners for the year 2006 (PDF file, 27 KB).
The next FAI Awards Ceremony will be held on the island of Rhodes in Greece, on Thursday 11 October 2007. Detailed information on the award-winners' achievements will be published on Internet shortly after the FAI Awards Ceremony.
Please click on the links listed below, to get detailed information on the history of each FAI Medal and Diploma.
The FAI Gold Air Medal
The FAI Gold Space Medal
The FAI Silver Medal
The FAI Bronze Medal
The De La Vaulx Medal
The Louis Blériot Medal
The Sabiha Gökçen Medal
The FAI Air Sport Medal
The Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship
The Paul Tissandier Diploma
The Past Presidents Diploma
The FAI Honorary Group Diploma (Aeronautics)
The FAI Honorary Group Diploma (Astronautics)
Procedures governing FAI Awards:
The procedures governing nominations for FAI Medals and Diplomas are published in chapters 10 to 12 of the By-Laws to the FAI Statutes.
The Trustees of the Prince Alvaro de Orleans Borbon Fund for Technical Advances in the field of Sporting Aviation (including Simulated Flying) invite nominations from any source for high-calibre candidates who may be suitable recipients of prizes from the Fund.
Download the regulations for the award of prizes from the PRINCE ALVARO DE ORLEANS BORBON FUND (PDF file, 9 Kb).
You are kindly invited to make nominations for suitable candidates on the form available for downloading here (Word doc, 4 Kb).