It has been reported that a Swiss solar-powered plane blasted off from Abu Dhabi for its first ever attempt to fly across the world without any fuel.

Sources informed that Andre Borschberg, founder of the Solar Impulse, 

was at the controls of the single-seater plane during its launch from the Al Bateen Executive Airport.

Furthermore, Mr. Borschberg will swap his control charge with Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard during stop-over.

According to Swiss pilots, their aim behind this attempt was to create awareness about replacing old polluting technologies with clean and efficient technologies.

They expect that the plane would reach its first destination, i.e. Muscat, Oman, after about 10 hours of the flight.

The lightweight Solar Impulse 2, a larger version of a single-seat prototype that first flew five years ago, is made of carbon fibre.

The plane has 17,248 solar cells built into the wing that supply the plane with renewable energy. The solar cells recharge four lithium polymer batteries.

The company said the plane has a 234ft wingspan, which is even larger than Boeing 747. The plane weighs about as much as a car, i.e. around 5,070 lbs.

The plane was completed in June and made an inaugural flight of two hours and 17 minutes above the western Switzerland, just two months after it was unveiled last year.

The makers of the plane revealed that after stopping at Oman, the pane will head to India, where it will make two stops. It will then head towards China and Burma before heading across the Pacific and stopping in Hawaii.

It will then head towards Phoenix, Arizona, and New York's biggest airport, John F Kennedy International, they said.

Both the pilots of the plane are expected to return to Abu Dhabi in late July or August.