Questions and answers

Yes, a flight with a hot air balloon is one of the safest modes of transportation in the world. Thanks to their relatively simple design, they have no computer board and electronic controls which means they break very rarely. Furthermore, each hot air balloon goes through a technical assessment test every year. Before every flight, the pilot checks and makes sure that the hot air balloon is safe to use and only then the decision about taking flight is being made. The biggest risks in flights with hot air balloons are the human factor however competence and health condition of pilots in Latvia are very strictly regulated. Each of our hot air balloon pilots is certified to do commercial passenger transportation, he has valid health reference and valid commercial pilot license and the company is lawfully allowed to provide flights with hot air balloons – we are declared an organization by the Civil Aviation Agency of the Republic of Latvia.

Kids. Kids are allowed to fly if they are at least 6 years old and 115 cm tall. In this case, the kid has to be accompanied by an adult for the flight. If you have planned to take a younger kid with you for a flight we recommend you take the kid to the take-off place of the balloon and see how the kid reacts to the sounds of burner and fire. You have to understand that even a small child is considered a passenger and needs a ticket.

14-18 year olds can fly unaccompanied by a parent. Parents or guardians have to take the kid to the meeting (with the hot air balloon team) point, sign all the necessary paperwork, and follow the hot air balloon support team to the landing place.

Seniors. It is a worldwide practice for seniors to join the hot air balloon rides. However, every passenger has to consider their health carefully and decide whether they can fly. If there is any doubt please consult your doctor and inform our pilot about your health condition and necessary medication.

Pregnant women. We highly recommend women who are expecting kids to postpone the flight. Sometimes the landing might be rougher (a hit from below the feet or the falling of the basket sideways) and we do not want you to have an unpleasant experience.

Weight. We do know that our passengers are in different weight and size categories, but due to common weight and area restrictions, we will have to apply a fee for people who weigh more than 110 kg.

Even though a flight with a hot air balloon is not the cheapest adventure we gaisabaloni.lv offer the best price for the safest trip and quality of services. A flight for one person costs approximately 165 EUR which varies from the place of the flight and duration of the flight. This price also includes the taxes paid in Latvia. For additional services that include: (specific dates of flights/ expiry dates, pick-up, and drop-off from Riga to flight, etc.) we have the right to ask for an additional fee.

On our Facebook & Instagram pages we sometimes have special offers for especially good prices so join and follow for more information!

Gift cards for a ride in our hot air balloons can be bought here – the webpage, or by calling us: at 25905509 or sending us an inquiry to e-mail: lido@gaisabaloni.lv. When the gift card is ready we will send it to you via parcel machine or electronically.

Ticket and/or gift card is valid for 12 months (if there is no other expiry date). You have to register for a flight at least 14 days before the expiry date. All the rules about the flight with a hot air balloon are read here – rules.

Gaisa Baloni only fulfills the rides for the passengers that have registered for the flight. Register here – and you have to win a flight ticket or valid Gift card. You also can register for a flight without buying a ticket but in this case, there might be an extra fee added. Except for the cases when the flight with a hot air balloon is private, Gaisa Baloni will accept your desired time and date for the flight but there is no guarantee that the flight will take place. A specific flight date can be offered for an additional price while registering a Gift card/ ticket for a flight. If upon registry there are any additional questions you are welcome to call us at +371 25905509 or contact us on the Contact Us page – https://gaisabaloni.lv/kontakti/

We offer our flights also through partners ((piem., Dāvanu Serviss, Dāvanu Sala, From Me) and their gift cards. The amount of service information is published by partners. For the customers that have bought tickets from partners or on our website (if tickets or gift cards start with ‘EB’) the flight with a hot air balloon is guaranteed without a guaranteed option to choose a date for a flight. We do not guarantee a specific flight date but we urge the passengers to take part in the flight previously calling or sending a message.

Several additional services including a flight on a specific date can be offered for an additional fee when the gift card is being registered for a flight or the flight passengers are being registered. But we urge you to take into consideration that the flight with a hot air balloon is very dependent on the weather conditions.

We offer our flights also through partners ((piem., Dāvanu Serviss, Dāvanu Sala, From Me) and their gift cards. The amount of service information is published by partners. For the customers that have bought tickets from partners or on our website (if tickets or gift cards start with ‘EB’) the flight with a hot air balloon is guaranteed without a guaranteed option to choose a date for a flight. We do not guarantee a specific flight date but we urge the passengers to take part in the flight previously calling or sending a message.

Several additional services including a flight on a specific date can be offered for an additional fee when the gift card is being registered for a flight or the flight passengers are being registered. But we urge you to take into consideration that the flight with a hot air balloon is very dependent on the weather conditions.

In more than 15 years we have met and taken on a flight hundreds of passengers that said they are afraid of heights. Flying with a hot air balloon banishes this feeling after the first couple of meters after take-off. You are in a basket with experienced and smart pilots among friends and the fears are forgotten. This is the scenario in 99% of cases.

Flight in a hot air balloon is an outdoor activity and clothes should be comfortable. When preparing for a flight we suggest choosing clothes and does that would be suited for an easy walk in the forest. We recommend grabbing a hat or other type of head covering because during the flight the hot air balloon burners will be working and it might get hot around your head area. The temperature changes during the flight are minimal so you will not get cold (during winter we suggest wearing winter boots). Furthermore, the balloon is flying where the wind blows it hence the wind is not a concern on the flight.
For younger passengers, we recommend bringing sound-reducing headphones.

Traditionally we fly at a height of 300-400 meters but sometimes we fly up to the 1 km mark but that depends on restrictions of air space and the season chosen for a flight. Even a couple of hundred meters above the ground you can see magnificent views all around and above the 300 meter mark you can see more than 10 kilometers in the distance.

No. A hot air balloon does not have a wheel or motor and there is no way to steer it. A hot air balloon is the only aviation vehicle that follows a free flight along the wind. Most likely the ride will end 10 to 30 kilometres away from the take-off field.

It is allowed to take pictures and videos during the flight. We suggest that before getting into the basket all photo equipment should be placed in a small bag with a strap that can be tied inside the basket before landing. Passengers take all responsibility for their photo/video equipment and possible damages to it that can occur during the trip.

All our passengers are insured according to the European Union and aviation requirements therefore before the flight it is not necessary to buy additional insurance. The equipment (photo/ video cameras) that passengers take on the flight are not insured and the insurance of the equipment is the passengers’ responsibility.

Flight with a hot air balloon is completely dependent on weather conditions: clouds, visibility, precipitation, speed of the wind, etc. Usually, the weather forecast is known before but sometimes they are inaccurate or not complete. Due to this fact, the pilot can even cancel the flight on a take-off airfield when the actual weather conditions can be assessed. This is the only case when Gaisa Baloni decides the cancellation of flight and is according to force majeure criteria. Precise and complete flight service rules and cancellation rules are here – https://gaisabaloni.lv/drosibas-noteikumi/, please read them.

That is only our pilots’ decision about whether to fly or not and it is not related to decisions of other pilots. Our pilots always assess different factors and decide themselves always placing the safety of passengers in the first place.
Another balloon might have had better wind conditions when taking off. Maybe this other balloon started the flight in a completely different region. Also, that might have been a private hot air balloon and they can fly in worse visibility conditions than commercial hot air balloons that are registered with public transportation licenses (as in our case). Also, private balloons are much smaller and therefore easier to fill up with air and land in windier conditions. There are very various situations.

A flight in a hot air balloon usually takes an hour which is the time you will spend in the air. Although depending on the speed of the wind and the availability of landing fields your flight can last from 45 minutes up to an hour and a half. Preparation of the hot air balloon for the flight and safety instructions usually take half an hour. Also, half an hour is needed to return from the landing place to take off-site. The whole adventure with a hot air balloon usually lasts approximately 3 hours or sometimes even longer.

The place of the take-off depends on the direction of the wind and its speed and that is chosen by the pilot who carefully assesses meteorological data. Gaisabaloni.lv offers flights in all of Latvia, but usually, people fly from Sigulda, Tukums, and Jelgava. We also suggest taking flights to Cēsis, Kuldīga, and Talsi.

The take-off place usually is close to the meeting point where we will ask you to meet us and for the flight preparations to run smoothly, we ask you to arrive on time.

Depending on the size of the balloon it usually is for 4 to 8 passengers. If you prefer to fly with fewer people (2-4) or without other passengers, please contact our flight coordination team and discuss options by making a reservation. We offer private flights with hot air balloons only for your group of friends and without other passengers.

Hot air balloon is completely dependent on wind speed and direction. The only way how a pilot can change the flight trajectory is by finding different wind speeds and directions at different heights. Sometimes the wind closer to the ground is very weak but it gets exponentially stronger a couple hundred meters higher. Hence the flight distance can change from 5-10 km distance to even more than 30 km. Of course, before the flight, the pilot carefully follows the weather forecast and tries to foretell the landing region. Depending on the wind forecast pilot decides where the balloon will lift off and what will be the most beautiful and safest place to fly above.

If you want to lift off from near your house or another place that fascinates you that is completely possible. If the place of your choosing is shown as a forbidden zone in the air navigation map (for example Ādaži polygon or gas storage) we will move the lift-off place elsewhere. When planning a flight the hot air balloon coordination team should know the precise location where you want to lift off from. There might be a situation that a flight from a planned lift-off place might be shorter than it was supposed to be.

If the flight is not private (there will be other passengers) the place of lift-off should be run by other passengers and there is a chance that other passengers will want to go elsewhere. Sadly the place where the hot air balloon will land is not possible to foretell even during the flight hence we do not offer landing in a specific place.

The landing place of the hot air balloon is chosen by the pilot considering the availability of a place during the flight. Assessing the speed and direction of wind the hot air balloon pilot starts to look for a suitable field for landing which also would be easily reached for the balloon support team on the ground. For the whole flight time, the team on the ground follows the balloon and contacts the pilot through radio. After the flight passengers are taken back to the meeting point by the Gaisa Baloni team. In cases when the passenger has a supporting group of friends after the landing these passengers can go away together.

Upon availability pilot and flight, team will offer the passengers to participate in small tasks to help with the balloon. Although such tasks can be performed only if the team or pilot offers it because there are several tasks where the participation of passengers is not allowed. Participation in separate tasks is a great way how to catch the excitement for the upcoming flight as well as find out more about the hot air balloon construction and how it works.

If the weather conditions are good hot air balloons can fly all year long. In Latvia, the hot air balloon season starts at the end of April and continues until the middle of October.

Hot air balloons can only fly either early in the morning not later than 3 hours after sunrise and in the evening approximately 2 hours before sunset. It is related to the warming up of the earth and the occurrence of thermal vertical air currents. During summer depending on the duration of the length of day flights take place from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. but evening flight begins at 6 p.m. In spring and autumn morning flight starts around 8 a.m., but evening flight at 4 p.m.

During the middle of the day, the hot air balloon can only fly in the cold season (late autumn and early spring), when there are no thermal vertical air flows. Traditionally hot air balloons fly only in the mornings and evenings.

Before the flight or during the flight it is strictly forbidden to consume alcohol (if the pilot has not allowed it). Also during the flight, it is forbidden to do anything that can affect the safety of the flight: touch the ropes, gas conduits, bend over the side of the basket, etc. It is forbidden to smoke closer than 30 m from the hot air balloon, carry or take any weapons, bombs, or chemicals on the flight or use drugs.

The pilot has the right to forbid getting into the basket of hot air balloons if someone acts inadequately. If the passenger has arrived for the flight under the influence of alcohol or drugs the flight can be cancelled and no refund for the ticket will be issued.

The pilot has the right to forbid getting into the basket of hot air balloons if someone acts inadequately. If the passenger has arrived for the flight under the influence of alcohol or drugs the flight can be cancelled and no refund for the ticket will be issued.

Definitely! We suggest you choose another place, time, and season for the flight. Also, the second flight might be a great gift for somebody special – surprise them with an unforgettable adventure!

Standard prices are calculated taking into consideration a person’s weight up to 100 kg. That’s why persons who weigh more than 101 kg have an additional fee.