A RECORD-BREAKING around the world flight landed at Southend Airport at the weekend.

The first global journey from China in a light aircraft stopped off for one day on the UK leg of the historic flight.

The aircraft, a turbo powered Socata TBM 700 N661EK, took off from Beijing Airport on August 8 at the start of its 40,000 kilometre flight.

Pilot Zhang Bo will eventually cross 20 different countries with 50 stopovers. It is expected to take about 58 days to complete.

Bo is a Chinese-American flying enthusiast and entrepreneur.

The flight will cross Siberia, Canada, America, Greenland, Iceland, the UK, and mainland Europe before following the ancient Silk Road route in central Asia.