Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

Air sports were present in the Olympics only twice: at Paris 1900, with an aeronautics event and several ballooning demonstration events; and at Berlin 1936, with a gliding demonstration.

At the global level, air sports are governed by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), an International Olympic Committee (IOC)-recognized federation which is a member of the Association of the IOC-recognized International Sports Federations (ARISF). The FAI, also well known by its English name, World Air Sports Federation, was created on 14 October 1905, in Paris, France, with founding members from eight countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.

The FAI currently governs the disciplines of Aeromodelling, Amateur Built and Experimental Aircraft, Ballooning, Drones, General Aviation, Gliding, Hang Gliding, Microlights and Paramotors, Paragliding, Power and Glider Acrobatics, Rotorcraft, Skydiving, and Space.

As of January 2026, the FAI has over 100 members from 91 nations. Greg Principato of the United States is its current President, and the federation’s headquarters is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FAI organizes the World Air Games, the premier, international, multi-discipline air sports event, with its first edition staged in Türkiye, in 1997.

In 1997, air sports also débuted at the World Games, and its appearance has been continuous since, although in different disciplines, with skydiving events from 1997-2022, paragliding events in 2013, aerobatics and paramotoring events in 2017, and drone sports since 2022.