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By Kirsty, February 13, 2013 5:01 pm

The 2013 flying season sees seven new pilots welcomed into the Virgin Balloon Flights team. With over 100 launch sites across England, Scotland and Wales, we have a large network of wonderful pilots taking passengers to the skies all around the country.

Each and every pilot is hand-picked for their expertise and experience and we’re extremely proud to have some of the world’s very best hot air balloonists working with us.

Meet the new high-flyers….

Celia Morley
Flying over southern Scotland
Most memorable flight: “There have been so many memorable flights: I’ve done two channel hops, the first in 2005, and the second in 2011 had a Spitfire doing circuits around the balloon. I flew a lady on her 98th birthday, flew in the Italian Alps and did a splash and dash in the Rio Grande.”

Steve Richards
Flying over Surrey
Most memorable flight: “After nearly 30 years of flying, there are so many memories of fantastic flights. Flying over the Alps, landing at the very peak of one highest mountains in the area and getting out one by one to leave footprints in the snow and the fun of landing between the gigantic vineyards in South America are the best.”

Tim Parker
Flying over Essex
Most memorable flight: “Being a balloon pilot is the best job in the world. There is nothing better than a perfect flight with great landscapes, good weather, happy passengers and people waving up at the balloon, my most memorable flight was seeing a non-domestic big cat on an early morning flight over Somerset!”

Lawrie Ellis
Flying over north Scotland
Most memorable flight: “One of my most memorable flights was a channel hop to the Isle of Wight from Southampton. Quite a different way to get to the Island from my days before ballooning when I frequently sailed to the Island and circumnavigated it in a number of Round the Island Races.”

Piers Glydon
Flying over Derbyshire
Most memorable flight: “Flying in the Himalayan mountain kingdom of Bhutan, taking off in remote villages 10,000 feet above sea level and soaring on the wind over the mountains has got to be my favourite flight, but i love the British countryside and the views of the Peak District are stunning from the air. The area around Bakewell is a beautiful one in which to fly.”

Gavin Chadwick
Flying over West Midlands
Most memorable flight: “I enjoyed many balloon flights during my younger years and by the age of 10 I’d decided I wanted to be a balloon pilot. At school, the careers officers weren’t sure how to react when I informed them of the unusual career that I’d picked. I have also partaken in several competition events in the UK, Italy, and France – where I was selected as the UK entrant for the European Cup for Young Balloon Pilots.”

Martin Cowling
Flying over Mid Scotland
Most memorable flight: “One of my favourite flights was flying over the Valley of the Kings. We took off from Luxor and as we rose up in the air, the ground below us was green for a couple of kilometres then just faded into desert. You get a complete different perspective when you’re up in a balloon. To float above the river Nile and the Valley of the Kings really is something else.”

To fly with one of our new hot balloon pilots from just £79 per person simply visit virginballoonflights.co.uk or give us a call on 0844 844 8070

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By Kirsty, February 5, 2013 2:30 pm

Each year Virgin Balloon Flights takes a team of pilots, crew and guests out to Mondovi in Piemonte, Italy, for a stable and balloon friendly climate to carry out annual check flights and training for pilots.

This year a group of 38 balloon enthusiasts enjoyed a ten day trip to the centre for ballooning in Italy, which included Chief Pilot and CEO Kenneth Karlstrom and 16 of our Virgin hot air balloon pilots from across the country.

A total of nine flights went ahead over the ten day period where required tests and checks were carried out on the Virgin balloon as well as completing group conversions where experienced pilots are certified to fly bigger hot air balloons.

Kenneth said: “The trip was hard work but we achieved everything that needed to be achieved. Another successful event which meant the opportunity for socialising, eating pizza and drinking good wine!”

Here’s a selection of photographs taken by balloon crew member and annual staff photography competition winner Neil Marshall and a video put together by pilot Richard Prowse.

Mondovi January 2013 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The start of the UK ballooning season will commence in March and we’ll be taking to the skies from over 100 locations across England, Scotland and Wales. Be part of it by calling 0844 8448080 or visiting virginballoonflights.co.uk

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By Jade, November 2, 2012 6:07 pm

This year’s Virgin ‘Stars of the Year’ event brought together 31 brilliant individuals from different Virgin companies across the globe to celebrate their hard work and outstanding achievements. We caught up with our ‘Star of the Year’, operations technician Roger Vint, to get some more inside details of what went on at one of the best Virgin events of the year.

Roger went to the evening – held at Sam and Holly Branson’s house – with his wife Sue. He told us:

When I found out I had been voted a ‘Star of the Year’, I was somewhat suprised and a little shocked but once over the initial suprise, I was delighted and extremely excited.

We didn’t see much of the house but the grounds were very remote and lovely. On arrival, we were greeted with some fancy cocktails, a few minutes later Richard opened up the conservatory (his words!) big enough to hold 150 people. The decoration was first-class, all very glamorous and elegant but still with a homely feel as there was a lit log fire – it was lovely!

We spoke to a lot of people throughout the night; fellow guests and even some Virgin Directors who were all very attentive, all going out of their way to look after us.  Three directors in particular spent considerable time with us; Matt, the HR Director of Virgin Money, Matthew Donaghy, HR Director of Virgin Trains and the CEO of Virgin Group. When we met Richard himself, he was very relaxed and chatty.

We all sat down for dinner and the food was amazing, we enjoyed  Beef Wellington and Salmon baked in Salt. We then had the speeches presented by Richard and his daughter Holly along with other senior Virgin group members. After that, we all had photos with Richard before the Disco began. It was a great evening. All in all, a once in a lifetime experience.

Sounds like it was a brilliant evening for everyone. Congratulations Roger and all the Stars of the Year!

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By Jade, September 27, 2012 5:53 pm

The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan Cancer Support’s biggest fundraising event. People across the UK hold their own coffee morning at home, at work and even in schools to raise money for Macmillan!

At Virgin Balloon Flights this morning, we’ve all enjoyed some delicious cakes and mugs of hot tea and coffee – courtesy of Alex (Head of Marketing) in return for donations which will be sent to Macmillan Cancer Support.

The very first World’s Biggest Coffee Morning started in 1991, since then it has raised over £60 million in total for Macmillan Cancer Support. Last year, 51,000 people participated and raised and amazing £10 million creating a record. Lets hope together we can beat that this year!

There is currently around 2 million people in the UK living with cancer, it is predicted that by 2030 there will be 4 million. Even if you’ve not been part of the ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’ this year, you can still give a donation and help Macmillan Cancer Support continue to help those in need.

Keep in touch with all our latest day-to-day news, offers and competitions on the Virgin Balloon Flights Facebook page.

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By Jade, July 9, 2012 4:06 pm

Here at Virgin Balloon flights, we keep adding new launch sites to give you an even bigger choice of where to begin your airborne adventure. Boughton House, near Kettering offers another excellent starting point for those looking to fly from Northamptonshire.

Nestled in the historic village of Weekley, in a beautiful corner of countryside, is Boughton House which combines village-like Tudor courtyards with palatial French-style features. The family home of the Duke of Buccleuch is set in 150 acres of parkland landscape meaning immaculate lawns, enchanting walled gardens, ancient lime avenues and water features will pass beneath the basket. The estate continues beyond this with 2345 acres of woodland and miles of open farmland, all remaining untouched over the last two hundred and fifty years.

Where you’ll float and what you’ll see is up to the wind, but from the offset you’ll be swept away by the magnificent views of a 300-year-old avenue of trees, fresh green lawns and striking waterscapes. As your journey continues, you may enjoy a panoramic view of attractions such as the bustling Wicksteed Park, Rockingham Castle or you could catch a glimpse of the conspicuous wildlife coming from Pitsford Reservoir Nature Reserve.

Boughton House has become a popular site to visit in itself. After viewing it from a unique perspective up in the sky, why not get a closer look and visit the grounds for a walk in the park, a tour of the house or to see the wonders of Orpheus’ – a unique 21^st Century Landscape feature.

Why not visit our website and book your balloon flight now? Or if you haven’t already got a voucher, you can fly with us for just £89pp.

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By Jade, June 28, 2012 11:10 am

The Virgin brand is synonymous for its music. One of Sir Richard Branson’s first ventures was the opening of a record store on Oxford Street in London. From this grew Virgin Records, V2 Music, Virgin Megastore, Virgin Radio International, Virgin Media and of course, Virgin Festivals. Here at Virgin Balloon Flights we’re trying to keep up this tradition so we’ve updated our hold music with the best ballooning songs to take you up, up and away. Here are a few of our favourites…

If you’ve got any ideas for other songs we could use for our hold music, facebook us or tweet us with the name of the artist and the song title!

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By Jade, June 19, 2012 2:24 pm

One of our new customer service representatives, Shaun, recently took to the skies above Shropshire for the first time aboard one of our lovely balloons. Here’s what he had to say about his Virgin Balloon Flights experience…

“When starting with Virgin Balloon Flights in March 2012 I was excited by the prospect that I may be able to take balloon flight. I am the kind of person who loves to experience new and unique things, and for me the opportunity of taking a balloon flight is a once in a lifetime chance.

I booked onto a Telford flight with Pilot Lindsay Muir and as I have a fear of heights, I did a little research on the pilot and found I was in more than capable hands as Lindsay is one of the UK leading female balloon pilots. The night before my flight I couldn’t wait for 11pm to come round so I could call the flight line. The message from the pilot had said the flight WAS going ahead! Even though I knew EXACTLY where it was I still used my Sat Nav to get me there… there was no way I was going to miss this flight!!!

I was impressed with the launch site as we were on the actual golf course surrounded by beautiful large oak trees. I genuinely could not have imagined how big the balloon was going to be! I took photo after photo trying to demonstrate how big the balloon was, the tall, solid oak trees looked tiny in comparison!

During take-off, Lindsay was very good and precise with her instruction. She made us feel at ease and we felt very secure in her capable hands.  As we launched, I was snapping away with my camera as we floated into the air. We were seeing some wonderful sights, everyone was smiling and happy.

We flew over some fantastic sights; I live in Telford and was genuinely ignorant to its beauty. We flew over the River Severn and caught some wonderful views of the Telford Ironbridge. After we had been flying for around 20 minutes, I had lost track of where we were but Lindsay was on hand with her map to tell us what to look out for; the whole flight lasted around 1 hour 20 minutes.

Once we landed, we were rewarded with a refreshing goblet of champagne. I had previously thought I would turn the champagne down at the end of my experience but as everyone else had some it would have been rude not to! Everyone regaled to one another about how the balloon flight had exceeded their expectations.

Ballooning is something I would do again and again! I think for my next booking I would try the Shrewsbury launch site, though to be honest I would fly from any launch site as I know all of our 100+  locations are brilliant.

Thank you very much Virgin Balloon Flights!”

By Shaun Howells

You too can experience hot air ballooning from Telford or any of our other launch sites with Virgin Balloon Flights from as little as £89pp, simply call our office on 0844 844 8080 or visit our website virginballoonflights.co.uk

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By Kirsty, June 8, 2012 11:36 am

This year’s Wray Scarecrow festival winners weren’t sure witch way it was to Pendle, but had no problem flying their way to first prize. As the official sponsors for the festival’s creative competition, Virgin Balloon Flights we’re delighted to see so many fantastic makeshift scarecrow scenes in the Lune Valley’s famous Wray village.

The 25^th (Silver Jubilee) anniversary of the festival coincided wonderfully with the run up to Her Majesty’s Diamond celebrations and with some new editions to this year’s festivities, including a Vintage and Collectables Market and a Classic Bike Night, visitors poured into the Lancashire village despite the intemperate weather.

On behalf of the Wray Scarecrow Festival & Fair Committee, Ian Simpson said: “Winning scarecrows “Witch Way to Pendle?” by Sylvia Edmondson and Malcolm Woodhouse was quite a simple design but in a beautiful location, with the “bin bag witches” fluttering in the wind, it somehow just worked and was really quite spooky!”

“It will still be some time before we know precisely how much we raised but we have a provisional figure clearing £13,000. This is a fantastic achievement and does not include funds raised by other local groups throughout the festivities which all benefit the community in different ways e.g. the village school and local churches.”

Why not see the scarecrows from the sky and jump on-board a Virgin hot air balloon above Wray from as little as £95pp. Simply call 0844 8448080 or visit our website.

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By Kirsty, June 1, 2012 9:11 pm

Virgin Balloon Flights pilot Chris Oxby has this evening flown the Union Jack flag above the Yorkshire countryside, taking a basket full of happy passengers to the skies from our York Racecourse launch site.

Marking 60 years of the Queen’s reign, the Diamond Jubilee extended weekend got off to a great start for our Yorkshire passengers as they enjoyed their hot air balloon ride with the flag in tow. There was even a marriage proposal in the air above York!

You too can enjoy a Great British Voyage with Virgin Balloon Flights as we’re offering up to 40% off selected flight vouchers from as little as £89pp. Whether it be Yorkshire or any of our other 100+ launch sites in England, Scotland & Wales you’ll be part of an airborne adventure of a lifetime.

Simply call 0844 844 8080 or visit www.virginballoonflights.co.uk