The DHL Balloon, in Singapore, was the world's second largest

tethered helium balloon A tethered, moored or captive balloon is a balloon that is restrained by one or more tethers attached to the ground and so it cannot float freely. The base of the tether is wound around the drum of a winch, which may be fixed or mounted on a vehic ...

. It was inflated in 2006, and closed and dismantled in October 2008.

History

The

DHL DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...

Balloon was first located on Tan Quee Lan Street in the

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive build ...

of Singapore, near

the New 7th Storey Hotel The New 7th Storey Hotel was a demolished budget hotel once located on Rochor Road in the Downtown Core of Singapore. History The New 7th Storey Hotel was established in 1953. The founder of the hotel, Wee Thiam Siew, spotted the potential for a ...

and

Bugis MRT station Bugis MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) interchange station on the East West line and Downtown line in Bugis, Singapore. Located under the junction of Rochor Road and Victoria Street, the station is close to Bugis Junctio ...

. Launched at a cost of $2.5 million, the DHL Balloon was a joint venture by Aerophile Balloon Singapore Pte Ltd and Vertical Adventure Pte Ltd, and took one year to plan. The project was sponsored by global

courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including transp ...

and logistics company

DHL Express DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...

which received exclusive advertising space on the balloon. The business partners involved in the project worked with the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. Mission The authority was established on 1 Apri ...

(URA),

Singapore Land Authority The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Law of the Government of Singapore. SLA optimises land resources for Singapore's social and economic development. History The SLA was formed on 1 June 2001 when th ...

and

Singapore Tourism Board The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore, tasked to promote the country's tourism industry. History The board was first established on 1 January 1964 and wa ...

to allow public advertising on the balloon, and arranged to

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

the site at a cost of more than S$1 million over two years. Prior to this project, large advertisements in public areas were not allowed in Singapore. S$800,000 was spent priming the ground for the balloon and another S$60,000 to purchase the

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

. On 19 April 2006, 40 crew members took 12 hours to inflate the French-made balloon, which took its first passengers in May 2006. The DHL Balloon was operated by Singapore Ducktours, a company which also offers city tours on its

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, railway vehicles, combat vehicles an ...

s. By September 2007, more than 150,000 people had ridden on the balloon, 70% of whom were

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

. Up to 1,000 people rode the balloon each weekend and its usage was the highest among all of Aerophile's balloons. The DHL Balloon's lease on its site on Tan Quee Lan Street expired in August 2008 and URA terminated the lease as the site was to be used for the new Downtown line's

. Singapore Ducktours considered three alternative sites: Beach Road near Park View Hotel,

Clarke Quay Clarke Quay is a historical riverside quay in Singapore, located within the Singapore River Planning Area. The quay is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River and Boat Quay. Etymology ''Clarke Quay'' was named after Sir Andre ...

near Novotel Clarke Quay Hotel, and

Gardens by the Bay The Gardens by the Bay is a nature park spanning in the Central Region of Singapore, adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay South Garden (in Marina South), Bay East Garden (in Marina East) and Ba ...

at Marina Bay but was told by the authorities that these sites were unavailable. Other plans included relocating the balloon to

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru (), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia,along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite of the city-state Singapore. T ...

in Malaysia. Terminating the venture would cost the company S$1.2 million. Unable to find a suitable site at which to continue operations, Singapore Ducktours dismantled the DHL Balloon in October 2008.

Ride

Passengers could ride the DHL Balloon and have a view of Singapore's Central Area, including the central business district,

Suntec City Suntec City is a major mixed-use development located in Marina Centre, a subzone of the Downtown Core in Singapore, which combines a shopping mall, office buildings, and a Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, convention centre. Con ...

, Marina Bay,

Orchard Road Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major –long road in the Central Area of Singapore. Known as a famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area of Singapore, with numerous internationally renowned depa ...

and

Little India Little India or India Town (less commonly known as Indian Street or India Bazaar) is an Indian or Desi (South Asian) sociocultural environment outside India or the subcontinent. It especially refers to an area with Indian residences and a dive ...

, and could see Indonesia and Malaysia. Standard flights to 150 metres (500') typically lasted between seven and ten minutes and higher level flights to 180 metres (600') lasted up to 13 minutes.

Features and specifications

The DHL Balloon measured 22 metres (72') in diameter and was filled with 6,500 cubic metres (8500 cu. yd.) of helium. It was certified as an aircraft. It was one of only fifteen similar balloons around the world in cities including Paris and Hong Kong made by

Aerophile Aerophile SAS is a French company specialized in building and operating tethered helium balloons. Formed in 1993 the tethered gas balloons operate as tourist attractions around the world. The company has sold more than 60 balloons in 30 countrie ...

. As the balloon was

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

ed to the ground with a metal

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

, it was only able to ascend and descend vertically. It was approved by the

Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is Singapore's civil aviation authority and a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. Its head office is located on the fourth storey of Singapore Chan ...

to ascend to a maximum altitude of 180 metres (600'), or around 48 stories. Flights to either 150 metres (500') or 180 metres (600') were offered. It could accommodate a maximum of 29 passengers in its

gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...

Piloting

The balloon, which flew between two and six times an hour, was operated by a pilot within the gondola. A

hydro-electric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attache ...

system controlled take-off and landing. As a safety measure, the balloon was not flown when there was

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

, rain, or when the

wind speed In meteorology, wind speed, or wind flow speed, is a fundamental atmospheric quantity caused by air moving from high to low pressure, usually due to changes in temperature. Wind speed is now commonly measured with an anemometer. Wind speed ...

exceeded five

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

s on the ground as measured by an

anemometer In meteorology, an anemometer () is a device that measures wind speed and direction. It is a common instrument used in weather stations. The earliest known description of an anemometer was by Italian architect and author Leon Battista Alberti ( ...

Maintenance

A crew of six pilots worked in rotation with one on duty at any one time. They conducted routine checks daily, weekly and every three months on the balloon and its equipment. The helium was replenished every four to six months and engineers visited the balloon each year to conduct an inspection.

Notes

References

External links

{{Commons category, DHL Balloon, Singapore
Uniquely Singapore: DHL BalloonSingapore Ducktours
2006 establishments in Singapore 2008 disestablishments in Singapore Buildings and structures completed in 2006

Balloon A balloon is a flexible bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and air. For special tasks, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), or light so ...

Downtown Core (Singapore) Individual balloons (aircraft) Tourist attractions in Singapore