Virgin Balloon Flights, with headquarters in
Telford
Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...
,
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
, began flying
hot air balloons in 1994 and its passengers are still flown in red and white balloons with the
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970.
Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding co ...
logo on the side of the balloon.
Virgin Balloon Flights owns and operate the largest passenger carrying balloon service in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
as well as the largest balloon fleet in the UK. The company has over 100 launch sites throughout the United Kingdom (including
Crowborough,
Shrewsbury and
Castle Fraser
Castle Fraser is the most elaborate Z-plan castle in Scotland and one of the grandest 'Castles of Mar'. It is located near Kemnay in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland. The castle stands in over of landscaped grounds, woodland and farmland ...
), employs more than 22 pilots who carry out the balloon flights and is affiliated to the following organisations:
*
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
*
British Balloon & Airship Club
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
(BBAC)
*
British Association of Balloon Operators
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
(BABO)
Since 2002, Virgin Balloon Flights has been the trading name for AirXcite Limited.
In 2006 it acquired a N-355 balloon manufactured by
Ultramagic. This new balloon, that takes a of air and can carry a basket with up to 16 passengers, replaced a smaller Cameron 340 balloon.
[Virgin Balloon Flights]
Virgin Inflates fleet with Monster New Balloon
Recently Virgin Balloon Flights expanded to Italy via the sister company of AirXcite, Ballooning in Tuscany, also owned by Kenneth Karlstrom. It now has 3 launch sites in Tuscany (
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
,
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
and
Poggibonsi
Poggibonsi is a town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located on the river Elsa and is the main centre of the Valdelsa Valley.
History
The area around Poggibonsi was already settled in the Neolithic age, although the firs ...
).
See also
*
Hot air ballooning
References
External links
*
Balloons (aeronautics)
B
Companies based in Shropshire
Telford
Transport companies of the United Kingdom
British companies established in 1994
{{UK-transport-stub