The Breitling Orbiter 3 was designed and built by Cameron Balloons in Bristol and co-piloted by Switzerland’s Bertrand Piccard and the UK’s Brian Jones.

The 40,814km journey kicked off at 08:05am on 1 March 1999 from Chateau-d'Oex in Switzerland, ending successfully 19 days, 21 hours and 47 minutes later in the Egyptian desert. It still holds the record for the longest un-refuelled flight in history.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the flight, Ambassador Markus Leitner joined co-pilot Brian Jones, flight director Alan Noble, and the Cameron Balloons team at their factory in Bristol to discuss the legendary journey – and how it was made possible by the close co-operation between the Swiss and UK teams.

Speaking back in 1999, shortly after he had returned to firmer ground, Bertrand Piccard said of his co-pilot Jones and the record-breaking journey: "We took off as friends and landed as brothers."