Hot Air Ballooning over Ireland - Weekdays Voucher
Weekday Hot Air Balloon Flights for 1 person on a Group Flight with other passengers (WEEKDAYS only Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays)
Escape to a world of unexpected surprises and adventure as you drift effortlessly over the most beautiful Irish landscape. Fly with us and make your dreams come true. Alternatively, give the gift of flight to somebody close to you
There is little to compare to the experience. Hot Air Balloon Flights take place either shortly after sunrise, or a couple of hours before sunset, when conditions are generally at their calmest. Due to the conditions of the weather and direction of the wind, takeoff and landing sites can be different each day. Once we have met you at our meeting point, we will travel to the launch site, if it is not at the meeting point.
Once we arrive at the launch site, we unload the balloon and carry out a safety briefing with all the passengers. Due to the conditions of the weather and direction of the wind, take off and landing sites will be different each day. Your pilot will decide these locations and inform you before take-off. The adventure begins by inflating the balloon using a giant portable fan. Once the balloon starts to take shape the burner is lit, heating the air inside. The hot air inside is lighter than the cool air outside and this is what creates the lift and why it is called a Hot Air Balloon. Due to the conditions of the weather and direction of the wind, take off and landing sites will be different each day. Your pilot will decide these locations and inform you before take-off.
Once you have landed, you’ll get the chance to assist in packing up the deflated balloon. Once the balloon has been inflated, the passengers are invited to climb into the basket. Getting into the basket is a little like crossing a field gate! When the balloon has positive lift, two safety lines are removed and the ground slowly sinks away. We are then on our way - destination unknown! Don't forget that balloons travel with the wind, so there is little opportunity to steer the balloons, other than by maybe finding a different wind direction at different altitudes.
Our retrieve crew follows the balloon, in radio contact, and aim to be at the landing field when the balloon lands, around an hour later. The crew will then contact the landowner to gain permission to recover the balloon from their land. Due to the conditions of the weather and direction of the wind, take-off and landing sites will be different each day. Your pilot will decide these locations and inform you before take-off. Once you have landed, you’ll get the chance to assist in packing up the deflated balloon.
Activity Highlights:
3-4 Hours Hot Air Balloon Flying Adventure;
Any Scheduled Date Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays;
Unforgettable Experience
Weekday Voucher can be used on Monday to Thursday evenings (excluding Bank Holidays) from our Trim, Co. Meath, Rathsallagh, Co. Wicklow or Mullingar, Co. Westmeath venues. These vouchers can be upgraded to Freedom Vouchers by simply paying the price difference.
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Location
Irish Balloon Flights, Trim, Co. Meath
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Group/Spectators
The minimum age is 8 years of age. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, all passengers must be able to see over the edge of the basket and be able to clearly follow safety instructions. There is no upward age limit providing that each passenger has sufficient mobility to be able to get into and out of the basket. It is akin to crossing a field gate, where there are a couple of steps in the side of the basket to facilitate entry. Passengers must also be able to comfortably stand for a minimum period of 90 minutes. Unfortunately, we are unable to facilitate wheelchair users on our flights. We are also unable to fly anyone who is pregnant or suffering from certain medical conditions.
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Duration
We ask passengers to allow 3 to 3.5 hours for the whole experience. This includes the preparation and packing away time, plus travel time back to the meeting location following the flight (plus the time for the champagne toast once returned back to the meeting point!). The flight itself is around one hour in the air, give or take a few minutes either way.
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Dress Code
We recommend that you dress in layers. It is generally no colder in the air than it is on the ground on any given flight, so there is definitely no need to overdress on warm days. There are some items of clothing that are NOT permitted on a flight. These include shorts, skirts or cut-off trousers, open-toed sandals/pumps etc. We can sometimes land in a field that contains thistles or nettles so we ask passengers to wear sensible clothing in that environment. Shoes must be flat with no heels. Also, we strongly recommend waterproof footwear for morning flights, when there can be substantial dew on the grass.
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Weather
Hot Air Ballooning does require light wind conditions with no rain. If flights are postponed due to bad weather, the passengers simply reschedule back in for another convenient date. We are governed by the Civil Aviation Authority in terms of weather limitations and have to abide to these limits for safety reasons.
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Other information
People who are not very good with heights can also participate in this activity. A flight in a Hot Air Balloon is completely different to being at the top of a building, tower or cliff etc. When taking off, it is as though the ground is slowly receding away and, in all our years of flying balloons, we have never had a single person who advised that they could not handle the experience of flying in the balloon. Our Chief Pilot feels uneasy climbing onto the roof of a bungalow, yet happily flies over the Alps by balloon at up to 20,000 feet!!
