Beijing - China yesterday gave three European balloonists permission to cross its airspace, but it came too late to save their round-the-world dreams. "It is scandalous. For us, it comes 48 hours too late," said a flight spokesman, Mr Gerard Sermier, at the Breitling Orbiter 2 control centre in Geneva. A diplomat at the Swiss embassy in Beijing said they received confirmation from the Foreign Ministry.
The flight was aborted yesterday after Beijing objected that the slow-moving silver balloon would have been a safety risk to aircraft during a busy holiday period.