The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) the World Air Sports Federation, today officially launched the opening of the bidding process for its marquee event, the World Air Games 2009.

The President of the FAI, Mr. Pierre Portmann, made the announcement at the Federation's Annual General Conference in Santiago, Chile. The bidding process is open to all cities, regions, FAI member associations (USUA is the sanctioned Microlight representative), private event organizers and corporate partners.

The World Air Games is the biggest gathering of air sports in the world and brings together the World Champions and top competitors in ten different air sport disciplines. The event showcases a week of tremendous competition and fills the sky with excitement and thrills for the public. Alongside the competition are plenty of opportunities for air shows, on-site demonstrations, and interactive activities for spectators.

The FAI, in cooperation with TSE Consulting, a specialized sports consultancy, took the initiative to modernize their World Air Games concept to make it more attractive for potential hosts, athletes and spectators. In addition, the FAI and its broadcasting partners have established a worldwide broadcasting network to air the event.

The bidding process has been re-structured into two simple phases. Interested parties have until December 31st midnight, to submit the Phase 1 Application Form, which will demonstrate their interest in hosting the World Air Games in 2009. An FAI Selection Committee will select the Organizer at a high-profile event in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital, scheduled for June 1st, 2007. Bid documents are available through the FAI office or can be downloaded at www.worldairgames.org.

Pierre Portmann, FAI President, comments: "It is with great pleasure that we officially open the bidding process for the 'Flagship' event of the FAI and all those involved in Air Sports. We have worked hard to modernize the event to make it attractive to our partners and we look forward to an exciting race in the next few months."

Lars Haue-Pedersen, Director TSE Consulting, had this to add: "The FAI has made a strong effort to make the event more attractive to the host cities. We see that this effort is paying off as many cities have already expressed interest as this is a highly visual and aesthetic event which a place can use to promote itself worldwide."

For further information, please contact the FAI for technical or competition queries and TSE Consulting for any questions relating to the bidding conditions or process:

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Jean-Marc Badan, Promotional Manager
Tel: +41 (0) 21 345 10 70
E-mail: worldairgames@fai.org

TSE Consulting
Caroline Anderson, Project Manager
Tel + 41 (0) 21 313 23 00
E-mail: info@tseconsulting.com