Support for Zara's quest to be the youngest woman to solo circumnavigate the globe

World’s leading air compressor manufacturers Elgi Equipmentsone is sponsoring 19-year-old Zara Rutherford’s record-breaking attempt to circumnavigate the globe. Following Guinness World record requirements, Zara, who left Belgium on August 18, 2021, plans to complete her journey across 52 countries and five continents by the middle of January making her the youngest person to fly, solo, a microlight around the world and the youngest woman to fly solo around the globe. Zara Rutherford hopes her journey will help highlight the gender gap in aviation and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related careers.

 Sharing his views, Dr. Jairam Varadaraj, Managing Director, Elgi Equipments Limited, said, “Zara Rutherford is an amazing young woman. We are excited to be a part of her journey. Women are largely underrepresented in the manufacturing industry, and at ELGi, we firmly believe that diversity adds new perspectives, stimulates innovation, raises overall standards of work, and improves results.”

 Chris Ringlstetter, President, ELGi Europe, added, “I am excited about sponsoring Zara’s mission to fly around the world solo, as well as the fact that she is raising awareness about gender equality and is motivating girls and women to get involved in STEM.”

Over the course of her 51,000-km route, during which she will cross the equator twice, at Jakarta, Indonesia, Zara has been meeting with local youth to bring more visibility to aviation and STEM, specifically for young girls.  While the estimated total fuel for her trip is equivalent to the amount used by a Boeing in about 10 minutes of runway taxiing, Zara is investing her own funds on tree-planting projects to offset her carbon footprint. TNS