Albuquerque\u2019s International Balloon Fiesta no longer holds a world record.<\/p>\n
News that a French ballooning event this week broke a 2-year-old world record held by New Mexico by sending 408 piloted balloons aloft within an hour aroused little competitive zeal Friday from Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta officials.<\/p>\n
The previous record was set here in 2011 when 345 hot-air balloons ascended in less than one hour on the opening day of the 40th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t like we did anything special when we established the record before,\u201d said Paul Smith, executive director of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. A typical mass ascension here launches 500 or more hot-air balloons in 1 hour and 45 minutes or less, depending on weather conditions, Smith said.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, 408 balloons took off from a former NATO airfield in eastern France during the annual Lorraine Mondial hot-air balloon festival, established in 1989.<\/p>\n
\u201cMondial is an excellent group and they put on an excellent event from everything I\u2019ve heard,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Albuquerque organizers have no plans to attempt a new record when the 42nd annual balloon fiesta is held here Oct. 5-13. Smith said he has received media inquiries and a couple of emails from balloonists about the French record, but has heard no demands that Albuquerque attempt to reclaim the record.<\/p>\n