Aerophile England - Bristol

Published 2004/11/30

We are delighted to announce our first balloon in the United Kingdom and our 27th installation.

Situated in the centre of Bristol, this Aero 30 marks a landmark decision by the British authorities to now recognise tethered balloons as aircraft rather than rides and hand responsibility to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Due to the new European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of which the British CAA is a member, the certification process was very quick and simple, and shows us the future for all tethered balloon certification.

The balloon sponsored by Greater Western Radio GWR, started life as Fortis in Paris in 1999, before it was repainted as Eutelsat in 2002. It only became available after Eutelsat recently updated its graphics and commissioned a new balloon to potentially display them through to 2012.

Bristol operator Graham Smith has stated that the balloon is performing well, entertaining lots of passengers and is still a few years from retirement.

We wish them both all the best!