The business of flying people in balloons

About a decade ago, Vikram was just two decades old. He started his master's studies in management and had the ambition to become an entrepreneur. At the same time, he started a travel and tour company. For Vikram, who came to India for work, that visit became the 'turning point' of his life. His mind flashed back to his childhood when he saw huge balloons flying in the Indian sky.

About three decades ago, for the first time in Nepal, Sunrise Company used to fly 'hot air balloons'. At that time, the balloon that took off from the sky at Kirtipur in Kathmandu would land near Thimi in Bhaktapur. Born and brought up in Bhaktapur, Vikram used to drop out of school and jump to watch balloons. Balloons would land in the morning while going to school. I used to go to see the balloon without going to school,' Vikram remembered those days, 'It was amazing to see people coming out of the balloon.' But the sunrise balloon was closed within 6 months at that time.

After seeing the balloon flying during his visit to India, he had a 'balloon dream'. After thinking of becoming a successful adventure tourism entrepreneur by flying balloons, Vikram not only got experience by flying himself, but also studied and researched about this business.

He then returned home determined to fly hot air balloons in Nepal. But he did not get family support in his plan. In the meantime, after consulting with his friends, he registered Balloon Nepal Company in 2073. Growing up in Bhaktapur, he wanted to fly balloons in Nagarkot. But because of the route of the air flight, after not getting permission, they started looking for a place.

Staying in Pokhara for about a month, he found suitable places for business, Dhampur and Lwanghlel. Dhampus fascinated him even more as there was no air route and the attractive snow range was also visible. Vikram started the process for flight permit after being attracted by the view of Annapurna and Machhapuchhre mountains visible from Dhampus.

In October 2074, after receiving permission to fly hot air balloons from the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, he bought a balloon from Gonzao, China for 1.6 million rupees. An Indian pilot was hired to fly. In 2075, he took off from Dhampus for the first time and did a test flight.

Then Bade, who had proceeded with the process of 'Air Operator Certificate (OC)', got stoned in his teeth. The reason was that he did not get permission to fly because the Chinese balloon did not meet the standards. Only balloons approved by the European Aviation Standard can be flown in Nepal. Without understanding it in detail, bringing the balloon from China caused unnecessary expense and suffering," he said.

Bade made Savin Maharjan a professional companion after the money he asked for at home was like pouring water on sand. Currently, Bade is the President of Balloon Nepal and Maharjan is the Marketing Manager. After that, Balloon Nepal procured balloons from Spain's Ultra Magic Company and proceeded with the permission process.

After not getting permission to fly in Dhampus, permission was taken to take off from Lauruk and land in Pame. Balun Nepal is the only hot air balloon flying company in the country. The company is currently flying around 40 passengers daily through two hot air balloons. At the beginning, there were American and Vietnamese pilots to fly the balloon, but now Spanish pilots are flying.

Now Balloon Nepal has a European standard balloon as well as a pilot of the same standard. There are no certified pilots to fly balloons in Nepal. Foreign pilots should be paid in dollars. Because of this, it is becoming difficult,'' Bade said, 'fees for passengers have also become more expensive.' Balloon Nepal had called for applications some time ago with the aim of studying a pilot course on scholarship. But the Nepalese did not show interest.

Initially, it was difficult to set up hot air balloons for tourist attractions, but now things have become easier, says Bade. According to him, the number of Nepali tourists is more than foreigners who fly in balloons recently. Hot air ballooning is considered a luxurious adventure. Air is filled with fans inside its balloon-shaped 'envelope'. After the balloon is shaped, the air is heated by burning gas. The hot air causes the balloon to rise and the pilot takes off by controlling the speed of the air. A maximum of eight passengers can fly at a time in a 32 square meter basket attached to the bottom of a 21 meter high balloon.

Balloon flight offers sunrise and sunset views. In the morning, the first flight usually departs from Lauruk at 5:40 AM. During the half-hour flight, passengers can view the Pokhara Valley and the surrounding mountains from 9,000 feet above. According to Bade, it costs 9500 US dollars for Nepalese, 100 US dollars for SAARC countries and Chinese and 130 US dollars for citizens of other countries.

Bade, who is looking for other destinations for business expansion, is recently preparing for sky diving from a hot air balloon. Currently, helicopters are being used for sky diving in Pokhara. But he said that skydiving from a balloon instead of a helicopter would be a different experience and the fee would also be lower.