In 2012, while in Kerala, India, Sruthy Saseendran dreamt of entering the Guinness Book of World Records. Inspired by her friend, Prijesh Kannan, who held a Guinness World Record in Memory Power, she shared the idea with a group of friends but admits, “I wasn’t sure when, how, or exactly what I would do. So, I left it to destiny.”
Fast forward to 2025, and Saseendran has made that dream a reality. She now holds a Guinness World Record for identifying the most airports in one minute using IATA codes—the three-letter identifiers for airports worldwide (for example, JFK for John F. Kennedy International Airport).
With an astonishing 95 airports named in 60 seconds, she not only set a record but also created a new category.
Over Zoom from her Melbourne residence, Saseendran reflects on how this historic moment came to be. “I’ve always been passionate about aviation,” she says. “But coming from a traditional, conservative family—my father was a government teacher, and my mother a housewife—some of my dreams, like this one, had to take a back seat.”
After moving to Australia in 2021 and working in IT, conversations with friends reignited her passion for aviation. “Eventually, everything clicked. After a week of detailed research, I stumbled upon IATA codes. What started as a hobby soon turned into a challenge.”
Saseendran knew she had to be strategic in her attempt to create a record for identifying airport codes. “I used Google to confirm there was no existing Guinness record for this title. Once that was clear, I built a database.”
She found that there were over 17,000 airport codes globally, though learning them all at once was unrealistic. “So, I sat down and brainstormed. Eventually, I found an aviation map created by Pilot Hugo, which became my daily reference.”
The journey required immense discipline. “Motivation may start you off, but only discipline and consistency lead to real change,” she believes, all while juggling a full-time job, multiple projects, and parenting.
To fit in her training sessions, Saseendran woke up around 4:30 am and dedicated the hours from then until 7:00 am before her workday began. “I had to get up early before my toddler woke up,” she says. However, throughout the day, she revisited the codes whenever she had free time after work, using flashcards, a phone app, and mind mapping to reinforce her memory, with intensive training primarily on weekends.
In addition to her training, Saseendran balanced a full-time contract job, multiple projects, parenting responsibilities, and other personal commitments.
Saseendran focused on improving her reaction time, needing to identify at least one airport code per second. While her personal best was 104, the official record stands at 95.
The road to Guinness wasn’t without obstacles. The team initially rejected Saseendran’s first three applications, as it was a new category. After refining her proposal to identify 95 codes in 60 seconds, it was accepted as a viable challenge.
Reflecting on her journey, Saseendran says, “I don’t have plans to break another record. It happened at the right moment, and I just picked up on it. It all fell into place.”
Her mother, offering unwavering support, encouraged her to keep going even after the initial setbacks.
Her advice for others with big dreams is clear: “Don’t let failure define you. Failure is just a detour, not a dead end. If you keep pushing forward, you’ll get there.”
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