Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

The World Air Sports Federation (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains world records for aeronautical activities, including ballooning, aeromodeling, and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), as well as flights into space.
The FAI was founded at a conference held in Paris 12–14 October 1905, which was organized following a resolution passed by the Olympic Congress held in Brussels on 10 June 1905 calling for the creation of an Association "to regulate the sport of flying, ... the various aviation meetings and advance the science and sport of Aeronautics." The conference was attended by representatives from 8 countries: Belgium (Aéro Club Royal de Belgique, founded 1901), France (Aéro-Club de France, 1898), Germany (Deutscher Luftschiffer Verband aka "German Airship League", founded 1902), Great Britain (Royal Aero Club, 1901), Italy (Aero Club d'Italia [it], 1904), Spain (Real Aero Club de España [es], 1905), Switzerland (Aero-Club der Schweiz, 1900) and the United States (Aero Club of America, 1905).
On 2 February 2017 the FAI announced its new strategic partnership with international asset management firm Noosphere Ventures. FAI Secretary General Susanne Schödel, FAI President Frits Brink and Noosphere Ventures Managing Partner Max Polyakov signed the agreement, making Noosphere Ventures FAI's Global Technical Partner.
The FAI suspended Russia and Belarus due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, as a result of which pilots from Russia and Belarus will not be able to compete in any FAI-sanctioned event in the 13 FAI air sports disciplines, including paragliding, hang gliding, and paramotoring.
The 117th FAI General Conference took place in Dayton, Ohio, US (the 'Birthplace of Aviation') on 26 and 27 October 2023.
The 118th FAI General Conference was held from 20 to 21 November 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 119th FAI General Conference will take place in Vantaa, Finland from 22 to 24 October 2025.
13 Sports:
All the events sanctioned by the FAI are listed in its events calendar.
The year that the first World Championship in each class (see Model aircraft competitions and classes took place are as follows:
The FAI is the international governing body for the following activities:
The FAI establishes the standards for records in the activities. Where these are air sports, the FAI also oversees international competitions at world and continental levels, and also organizes the World Air Games and FAI World Grand Prix.
The FAI organises the FAI International Drones Conference and Expo. This event offers a platform for organisations, businesses and individuals to discuss how drones are used today and to create a framework for how they will be used and impact on life in the future.
The FAI also keeps records set in human spaceflight, through the FAI Astronautic Records Commission (International Astronautic Records Commission – ICARE)
The FAI defines the limit between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, the so-called Karman Line, as the altitude of 100 kilometres (62 miles; 330,000 feet) above Earth's sea level.
Among the FAI's responsibilities are the verification of record-breaking flights. For a flight to be registered as a "World Record," it has to comply with the FAI's strict rules, which include a proviso that the record must exceed the previous record by a certain percentage. Since the late 1930s, military aircraft have dominated some classes of record for powered aircraft such as speed, distance, payload, and height, though other classes are regularly claimed by civilians.
Some records are claimed by countries as their own, even though their achievements fail to meet FAI standards. These claims are not typically granted the status of official records. For example, Yuri Gagarin earned recognition for the first manned spaceflight, despite failing to meet FAI requirements. The FAI initially did not recognize the achievement because he did not land in his Vostok spacecraft (he ejected from it), but later it recognized that Gagarin was the first human to fly into space. The FAI then established the Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal, which has been awarded since 1968.
The following types of craft have records:
The FAI Gold Air Medal was established in 1924 and was first awarded in 1925. It is reserved for those who have contributed greatly to the development of aeronautics by their activities, work, achievements, initiative or devotion to the cause of Aviation. The FAI has also awarded the Paul Tissandier Diploma since 1952 to those who have served the cause of aviation in general and sporting aviation in particular.
The FAI also makes awards for each of the following air sports.
The FAI Young Artists Contest is an international painting competition for youngsters between the ages of 6 and 17. Each FAI Member Country organises the contest in their country, and the national winners are submitted to the International Jury each year.