The Saudi Arabian Hot Air Ballooning Federation (SAHAB) announced the launch of the first phase of the training program for obtaining a license from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The program includes training in theory, which will be followed by field training in the Dutch city of Hengelo. The first batch of Saudi trainees began their three-month theoretical training.

AlUla Governorate hosts the headquarters of the federation, which was established after the remarkable success of the Balloon Festival, organized in AlUla during the years of 2018 and 2019. The federation has found a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest display of glowing balloons in the world, with 100 balloons that decorated the sky of AlUla for a distance of more than three kilometers as part of the activities of the second Tantora Winter Festival in January 2020 — SPA