The 96th FAI General Conference was held from 9 to 11 October 2003 in Krakow, Poland. A small FAI delegation led by the FAI President had the honour of being received by the President of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Aleksander Kwasniewski, at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. After a well-attended Opening Ceremony, at which Steve Fossett was awarded the FAI Gold Air Medal, delegates representing 42 nations and 10 international Air Sport Commissions, discussed - among many other subjects - World Air Games, a Code of Ethics, the introduction of a new visual image, and the program for the celebrations of FAI Centenary in 2005.

A well-attended Opening and Awards Ceremony
The ceremony was held in the splendour of the Opera House of Krakow, with over 400 guests present. After words of welcome from Mr Jan Tadeusz Karpinski, President of the Aero-Club of Poland, Mr Wolfgang Weinreich, FAI President, evoked the last FAI Conference held in Poland in 1936, and stressed the continuity of FAI’s activities. The Secretary of State for Sport, Mr. Adam Giersz conveyed a personal message from Prime Minister Leszek Miller and officially opened the 96th FAI General Conference. Several persons and groups who had served the cause of aviation and air sports were recognised for their work. The FAI Gold Air Medal, FAI’s highest award, was awarded to the renowned aviation record-breaker Steve Fossett, who flew in specially from America to attend the Awards Ceremony; Mr Fossett also received the De La Vaulx Medal (his fourth) for the Absolute Ballooning World Record he set on 3 July 2002, when he set a new mark for the shortest time around the world (320h 33mn) on his solo earth circumnavigation aboard "Spirit of Freedom".

For further information about Awards Recipients present at Krakow : FAI Awards 2002 (zip / 1,4 Mo).

New FAI Members
New FAI members were admitted from Malaysia, Thailand, and Paraguay. Taking into account the decisions made in Krakow, FAI membership now stands at 78 Active members, 12 Associate members, 9 Temporary members and 3 International Affiliates (102 in total).

Calendars
The General Conference was informed about the 2004 international calendar for sporting events (http://events.fai.org/) and the FAI meetings for the next 12 months (http://www.fai.org/general/meetings.asp). For detailed information, please refer to the permanently updated Internet pages mentioned above.

Next Press Releases
In the coming days and weeks, FAI will issue further reports about topics covered at the 96th General Conference, including World Air Games, FAI’s Strategic Plan and Corporate Identity, and the FAI Centenary in 2005.

Lausanne, 20 October 2003