Swiss Insurance Firm to Sponsor Solar Impulse Flight

The Solar Impulse project recently received a burst of sunshine in the form of financial support from a commercial insurance firm, bolstering the team’s plans to complete the world’s first global circumnavigation by a piloted, solar-powered aircraft.

Swiss Re Corporate Solutions (Booth No. 3517) announced in mid-September it had joined the Solar Impulse project as an official partner. In addition to financial support, the Zurich-based firm will also be the sole insurer for the Solar Impulse aircraft. That addresses what has historically been a sticking point for similarly ambitious projects: Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard noted that his grandfather had difficulties finding a company to insure his 1931 high-altitude balloon flight.