Ultramagic (, ) is a manufacturer of

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...

s, based at the Igualada-Òdena Aerodrome, province of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

. It is the only manufacturer of hot air balloons in Spain, and the second largest in the world.El Periodico
Once meses en globo
The company produces from 80 to 120 balloons per year, with 80% of them exported to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, North America,

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and Japan. The company can produce massive balloons, such as the N-500 that accommodates up to 27 persons in the basket. Ultramagic has also produced many balloons with special shapes, as well as cold air

inflatables An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since infla ...

. Ultramagic is one of the organizers of the

European Balloon Festival The European Balloon Festival is the largest hot air balloon festival in Spain, and one of the largest in Europe. It takes place every year during the first fortnight of July in Igualada, Catalonia, Spain, a city located within 60 km from Barcelon ...

, the largest

hot air balloon festival Hot air balloon festivals are held annually in many places throughout the year, allowing hot air balloons operators to gather- as well as for the general public- to participate in various activities. They can include races; evening "night glows" ...

in Spain and in South Europe, held in Igualada since 1997 in the month of July, that includes competitions, exhibitions and a night glow. The festival gathers around 60 balloonists from Europe, and other countries such as Israel, India, Japan,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

History

The company has its roots in 1978 when three friends, Josep Maria Lladó, aeronautical engineer and balloonist, Joan Comellas and Jaume Llansana,África en globo. Persiguiendo a Julio Verne
started to fly with a second-hand hot air balloon, and soon after decided to build a bigger balloon, named "Tramuntana",Infonomia
Ultramagic, por Ramon Bori (19/11/2003)
for a long journey in

, because they had not enough money to purchase an already manufactured balloon. This journey took place 1980, lasting 11 months, with 40 balloon flights starting from

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

, going to

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

Ruanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equato ...

and part of

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

to finalize in

Kisangani Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville or Stanleystad) is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the larg ...

, current

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. After that, they started to design an

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

aircraft and created the company Ultramagic SA, together with Carles Lladó, brother of Josep Maria. Ultramagic Ultralights evolved to Ultramagic Balloons, because after building an ultralight prototype they saw it was complex, required lot of funds, lot of components had to be imported, and serial production was required to be profitable.Avui
Entrevista amb Josep M. Lladó, Enginyer aeronàutic, copropietari de Globus Ultramàgic
On top of that, they had experience manufacturing balloons and they still had the sewing machines and an aeronautic background. The company launched in 1993 a cold air

division, with 4.000 units manufactured until today. Production of inflatables is around 500 units per year. In 2006 Ultramagic sold a massive N-355 balloon to Virgin Balloon Flights, the UK’s largest passenger carrying balloon company. This new balloon took of air and was able to carry a basket with up to 16 passengers.Virgin Balloon Flights
Virgin Inflates fleet with Monster New Balloon
In year 2009 Ultramagic made the first official flight of the "''Ecomagic''", an

eco-friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...

hot air balloon, with a reduced consumption, developed together with the School of Aeronautic Engineering of the Technical University of Berlin. The textile fabric used by this balloon has a double layer to better isolate the hot air, thus reducing consumption and allowing longer flights. The Ecomagic consumption is less than 50% of a standard balloon, and can even reach a 30%.Avui
Ultramagic dissenya un globus aerostàtic sostenible que consumeix la meitat d'energia
In 2013 it introduced the Ultramagic Flightpack, a new tablet application which gives balloon pilots all the information required for flight in one place.

Customer types

The hot air balloons produced by Ultramagic have three main types of customers: * Individuals, who use them to participate in competitions or festivals. * Professionals, who use them in commercial flights and often have a sponsor. * Companies, who use them in tourist flights in places such as

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, etc.

Gallery of models

File:Ultramagic Kon-tiki.jpg, Ultramagic M-77 (volume of 2.200 m³, for 3 or 4 persons) File:Tucson Balloon Landing.jpg, Ultramagic M-105 (3.000 m³, 5 persons), registered in the United States File:Ultramagic M-120 (D-OGSV) 03.jpg, Ultramagic M-120 (3.400 m³, 5 or 6 persons) File:HB QSN 01.JPG, Ultramagic M-130 (3.680 m³, 6 persons), registered in Switzerland File:Vista superior del globus.JPG, Ultramagic N-180 (5.100 m³, 9 persons) File:LuchtballonvaartoverMasCadavall.jpg, Ultramagic N-210 (6,000 m³, 11 persons) File:Ultramagic (D-OMKP) 03.jpg, Ultramagic N-210 (6,000 m³, 11 persons) File:2007-07-13HeißluftballonWarsteiner02.jpg, Ultramagic N-355 (10,000 m³, 20 persons)

References

External links

Ultramagic official websiteUltramagic UK websiteEuropean Balloon Festival official website
{{coord, 41.587285, N, 1.652808, E, type:landmark_scale:3000, display=title Balloon manufacturers Ballooning Aircraft manufacturers of Spain Companies based in Catalonia Igualada Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1978 Spanish companies established in 1978

History

Customer types

Gallery of models

See also

References

External links