The experimental zero-fuel aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, has completed the final leg of its global circumnavigation attempt.
It is the first circumnavigation of the world by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power.
The Solar Impulse prototype has already set eight world records, including first solar aeroplane to fly through the night, between two continents and across the United States.
It capped a remarkable 43,000-kilometre journey across four continents, two oceans and three seas, accomplished in 23 days of flying without using a drop of fuel.
The aircraft began its journey in Abu Dhabi in March 2015 and has since covered over 40,000km split across seventeen flights, and included crossings of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Following aircraft and weather complications, the decision was taken to delay the original 2015 completion date by 10 months.
Having overcome technical issues, Solar Impulse 2 departed Cairo on Saturday back to Abu-Dhabi for its seventeenth and final segment of the journey.
Cheers and applause broke out as it touched down before dawn in Abu Dhabi after the final leg of a marathon trip which began on March 9 last year.
While the pilots do not expect commercial solar-powered planes soon, they hope the project will help spur wider progress in clean energy.
