Hot air balloon or tethered helium balloon: two aerial tourism experiences

Hot air balloon or tethered helium balloon: two aerial tourism experiences

Humans have always dreamed of taking to the skies. Seeing things differently, taking in a landscape as a whole, grasping the scale of an iconic site, feeling the magic of the sky: this aspiration has endured throughout the ages and naturally fuels tourism.

Hot air balloons have long embodied this aerial experience, symbolizing freedom. They remain its most poetic expression. Flying at dawn, drifting slowly with the wind, watching the light change over the landscape: the experience is immersive. You don’t choose your trajectory, you accept it. This element of the unexpected is part of its charm. Hot air ballooning is an adventure, often planned in advance, always experienced as a rare moment.

Today, other forms of flight are enriching this aerial tourism experience, notably the large helium tethered balloon, which offers visitors an experience that is both thrilling and easily accessible: a complementary offering that satisfies the same desire for altitude.

At first glance, the two experiences seem very similar. In both cases, visitors rise gently, leave the ground, and discover the area from a new perspective. But behind this apparent similarity lie two different tourist activities.

Hot air ballooning is based on an ancient and spectacular principle: heating air to rise, then letting the wind carry you. This unpredictable mode of free flight is part of its charm. But it also has its limitations: extremely dependent on weather conditions, hot air balloons can only take off at specific times, usually at dawn or at the end of the day when conditions are optimal. For a tourist site, this means few rotations, cancellations, and an experience reserved for a motivated audience.

The tethered helium balloon, as developed by Aerophile, offers a different approach. Here, there is no drifting, no random route. Attached to the ground, the balloon rises vertically up to 150 meters, offering a stable and spectacular panoramic view of the surrounding area. The flight is controlled, repeatable, and compatible with continuous operation throughout the day, which is ideal for a high-traffic site. For visitors, the experience remains intense: the ascent is smooth, the sensation of flight and height is very real, and the landscape can be admired in complete serenity. The landscape does not scroll by: it unfolds.

Safety and ecology

The technology differs. Hot air balloons rely on combustion to heat the air, in a spectacular and traditional setting. Tethered balloons use helium, a gas that is naturally lighter than air and non-flammable. They therefore rise without combustion, noise, or emissions. This makes them particularly suitable for urban, heritage, or sensitive natural environments, where safety and environmental impact are essential.

The difference is also evident in terms of price. A hot air balloon flight often represents a significant investment, around $230 per person, as it is a longer experience that requires considerable resources and logistics. In contrast, a tethered balloon flight is a short experience (around 10 minutes) offered at an affordable price of around $25. Tethered balloons have a very large capacity: some days see more than 1,000 passengers! This difference transforms the tourist experience: flying is no longer just an exceptional luxury, but also a pleasure for the general public, naturally integrated into a visit to a site.

In reality, the two offerings do not pursue the same goal. Hot air ballooning retains its mythical, almost initiatory dimension. It is aimed at those who want to experience flight in all its freedom. Tethered ballooning meets a different need: offering as many people as possible the opportunity to discover a site from the sky and enjoy a memorable and safe aerial experience, without constraints.

Aerial tourism is not changing, it is evolving. Between the adventure of free flight and the panoramic stability of the tethered balloon, visitors always enjoy wonderful experiences. One celebrates the poetry of the wind. The other enhances the attractiveness of a site via a permanent aerial viewpoint. A tethered balloon flight often makes you want to go on a longer free flight in the countryside. Hot air balloons and tethered balloons are therefore two complementary ways of gaining height and marveling at the view.