Solar Impulse takes off from Ahmedabad, expected to land at Varanasi at 9 pm

AHMEDABAD: World's first solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2 has taken off from Ahmedabad on Wednesday morning.

The plane is expected to land at Varanasi at 9pm on Wednesday.

On its journey to Varanasi, the pilot Andre Borschberg will fly the zero-fuel airplane on about 1071km for an estimated time of 15 hours.

Si2 was scheduled to take-off for Varanasi, its next pit stop on Sunday morning but due to inclement weather in the city, the crew had decided to extend the stay.

Si2 had taken off for its maiden round-the -world journey on March 8 from Abu Dhabi, its host city and after a brief pit stop in Muscat, landed in Ahmedabad on the night of March 10.

According to Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials, the Si2 team studied the weather of Ahmedabad of last three years before deciding to make their first technical stop.

The Met department had forecasted light rain and thundershowers at isolated places in Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, on Saturday and Sunday. The weather suddenly changed from sunny to rainy because of the interaction between the Western Disturbance and the easterlies.