Vilnius - Lithuania's impeached former president Rolandas Paksas is to take off at the end of the week from Vilnius' Kyviskes airport for a round-the-world trip in a sports plane, he said on Thursday.
"It took 18 months for this idea to become reality and I see it as a challenge. It's also the first time a Lithuanian will attempt this," said Paksas, who is no stranger to 'firsts'. In 2004, he became the first European head of state to be removed from office by an impeachment process.
Accompanying Paksas on the trip, which will begin on Saturday - Paksas's 50th birthday - will be Russian citizen Vladimir Makogonov, who was Paksas' teammate in the former Soviet national aerobatics team, and Austrian lawyer Eugen Salpius.
Paksas graduated from Leningrad Civil Aviation academy in 1983, and was a member of the Soviet aerobatics team for six years when Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union.
The single-engined airplane the three men will use for their round-the-world trip will be provided by a Russian company, Techno Avio.
"We are planning for the journey to take some 40 days," Paksas said. "There will be 52 landings and the total length of the flight will be 70 000km."
Barring incidents, the first stop on the itinerary will be Gyore, Hungary. The three airmen are then scheduled to fly on to Biggin Hill, in southern England, where they will spend the night.
The project will cost about €80 000, with most of the funding coming from supporters in Austria, Paksas said.