An aviation enthusiast from Thiruvananthapuram, Sruthy Saseendran has set a Guinness World Record for identifying the most airport codes in one minute. Despite job loss, financial struggles, and personal hardships, her dedication and rigorous training paid off at last.
Sruthy has turned her fascination with aviation into a Guinness World Record achievement. What began as an unusual hobby—memorizing airport codes—soon transformed into relentless practice, allowing her to identify up to 100 airport codes in a minute.
Determined to make her childhood dream of holding a world record a reality, Sruthy, now settled in Melbourne, Australia, meticulously planned and trained for months. Her passion for aviation led her to research unique records, ultimately discovering that no one had attempted a world record in identifying airport codes. Seeing an opportunity, she dedicated herself to mastering the skill and eventually set a new world record.
Sruthy is From Kerala
Grew up in Vellanad (Thiruvananthapuram), Shruthi had a keen interest in music and rifle shooting during her school and college days, even competing at the state level. However, after moving to Australia post-marriage, she reignited her childhood dream of achieving a Guinness record. With rigorous training and unwavering determination, she has now turned her passion into a remarkable achievement, proving that persistence can make any dream a reality.
She began her journey toward a Guinness World Record in 2023. Her first step was compiling a database of airport codes from different countries, which she then memorized through continuous practice during her free time at home. Building confidence was crucial in the initial phase—while she could recall only about 30 codes in a minute at first, she gradually increased the number through rigorous training.
To sharpen her skills, she used PowerPoint presentations where she would recognize codes instantly. Her goal was to recall an airport name within seconds of seeing the code. She dedicated herself to intense practice, waking up at 4 a.m. every day to study. Even during daily activities like cooking or working, she would mentally review airport codes. Her training involved strict time management, ensuring she could recite the codes within the shortest time possible. With a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter at home, Sruthy scheduled her studies early in the morning before her child woke up. She also used travel time to revise her learning.
By June 2023, after weeks and months of dedicated effort, Sruthy acquired an aviation-related map, which she pinned on the wall and memorized every morning. With unwavering confidence in her ability to recall any airport code instantly, she finally applied for the Guinness World Record attempt, marking a major milestone in her journey.
Challenges Overcome
One of the biggest challenges she faced was that no existing category for such a record existed. In 2024, her application was finally approved with the challenge of recalling over 60 words in a minute. The real test was proving to Guinness officials that she could recall one airport code per second. While the guidelines required 55 codes, Sruthy pushed her limits and managed to recall up to 100 airport codes within a minute. At home, she had even reached 104, but during the official verification, only 95 were approved, as five codes were deemed unclear.
For authentication, Guinness officials required an unedited video recording from multiple camera angles, including a visible timer. They analyzed whether the spoken codes matched the displayed airport names. Sruthy, who had already memorized thousands of airport codes, completed the challenge with ease. After months of verification, Guinness finally recognized her achievement, cementing her name in the world records.
Her unwavering determination kept her going. On December 5, 2024, her dream turned into reality as she received the official confirmation of her record.
What started as a small dream turned into a two-year-long effort culminating in global recognition. Sruthy emphasizes that anything is possible with dedication. “Hold on to your dreams, rise above circumstances, and make time for your goals. If your passion becomes a habit, success is inevitable. When you believe in yourself, success will find you,” she shares. Currently, Sruthy is in Australia, living with her husband Ranjith and three-year-old daughter Nikita, already planning her next record-breaking feat.
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Commencing teaching in his early twenties, Prof Aggarwal has diverse experience of great tenure in the top institutions not only as an educationist, administrator, editor, author but also promoting youth and its achievements through the nicest possible content framing. A revolutionary to the core, he is also keen to address the society around him for its betterment and growth on positive notes while imbibing the true team spirit the work force along with.
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