On July 11, 2013 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Swiss pioneers Dr Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, co-founders and pilots of Solar Impulse, announced, together with Lieutenant-Colonel Hervé de Saint-Exupéry and the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation’s Secretary-General, Nicolas Delsalle-Mun, a new partnership benefitting youth.

On this occasion, an official ceremony chaired by Bertrand Lortholary, Consul General of France in New York City, allowed us to celebrate the success of the Solar Impulse mission across America (flight in a solar airplane across the US from San Francisco to New York City), in the presence of General Bruno Caitucoli, Defence Attaché at the Embassy of France in Washington D.C.

The arrival of the Solar Impulse airplane was the occasion to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first publication of The Little Prince in New York back in 1943. As ambassadors of the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation, Dr Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg proudly wore the little prince’s yellow scarf and a commemorative badge on their flying suits, while carrying a special edition of the book in the cockpit during the last leg of their Across America mission flights, between Washington D.C. and New York City.

During this unique event organised with the support of the French airline, Air France, the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation presented its international charitable mission to the French community in New York City, as well as to a group of American youth learning about ecology, in collaboration with The Human Impact Institute and Global Kids.

Click here for the speech of the Consul General of France in New York City

For more information:

Solar Impulse : http://www.solarimpulse.com
The Human Impact Institute : http://blog.humanimpactsinstitute.org