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Malaysian Pilot breaks World Record as the Youngest to Fly Around the World
PUTRAJAYA – Malaysia’s latest tourism attraction may not be its sandy white beaches or lush jungles, but a handsome young Malaysian who broke several records for being the youngest pilot to travel solo around the world in a tiny, single-engine Cessna 210 Silver Eagle aircraft.
Captain James Anthony Tan, 21, is the first (and youngest) Malaysian to travel over 21,000 nautical miles across 20 countries, within a 50-day period. He succeeded in completing his expedition, dubbed “1Malaysia Round the World (1MRTW)” in 48 days, arriving back in Malaysia on May 14th, 2013.
This historic flight across the world broke two world records – the “World Guinness Book of Records” and the “World Aviation Academy” record for being the youngest pilot to fly 14,000 nautical miles solo around the world. Captain James also received the honor of stamping a first record in the ‘Malaysia Book of Records’ as the youngest Malaysian and ASEAN pilot to ever attempt the journey.
Tourism Malaysia is proud to announce its support of Captain James and has provided a warm welcome at major stops on his journey, namely in Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Jordan. His stops in North America in April included Anchorage, Juneau, Vancouver, Denver, Indianapolis, Teterboro, and St. Johns.
Tourism Malaysia, through its overseas offices and in collaboration with the Malaysian Embassy/High Commission of the respective countries have also arranged for press conferences and media interviews to generate publicity about the expedition, and at the same time allowing foreign media to hear about beautiful Malaysia from the young pilot himself.
“Malaysia is my home,” says Captain James. “We have many things to see and even in a lifetime, I would not be able to witness all the wonders of my country.”
Captain James has become an unofficial tourism ambassador of Malaysia, bearing the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 (VMY 2014) logo on his plane while flying around the world. Last year, Malaysia received 25.03 million tourists, with tourist receipts totalling RM 60.6 billion. It is believed that Captain James’ expedition will help create an awareness of Malaysia and its many tourist attractions especially on the eve of the VMY 2014 campaign, scheduled to happen next year. This will contribute significantly towards Malaysia’s goal of achieving 36 million tourist arrivals and 168 billion in tourist receipts by 2020.
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