ADDITIONAL BALLOON CREW ON STANDBY AS WEBSTER ADVENTURES TAKES TO THE SKIES
- Scotland’s premium hot air balloon flight provider sees growth after lockdown
As it revels in the current fine weather, which is perfect for ballooning, Webster Adventures, Scotland’s premier commercial balloon company, has announced that it is experiencing a period of growth, and has had to recruit additional staff.
The business, which operates out of Kinross, and has only recently returned to the skies after a sixteen month layoff due to the pandemic, has taken on a new crew member to assist Balloon Pilot Pete Forster, together with business founder Daniel Webster.
Although having several other businesses in his portfolio, including construction and a sustainable honey company, Daniel enjoys being hands on with Webster Adventures, and often transports the balloon to its launch site.
“The job we have just filled is to provide cover for me,” said Daniel. “Much as I love working with the balloon, I am very busy with my other commitments, and we needed some additional help now. It’s great to be back up in the skies with passengers, although very often I am on the ground. Pete, our pilot, is doing a fantastic job as we have many customers booking their flights as some have had to wait since before lockdown. We’ve also had many new bookings as it appears that flying in a hot air balloon is on many people’s bucket list after lockdown – quite right too, as it’s an amazing experience, and we are happy to oblige as many people as we can.”
“The job involves bringing the balloon to the Kinross launch site in our special Land Rover Defender,” added Daniel. “They will then set up the balloon ready to fly, assisted by the rest of our team. Once the balloon is in the air, they will be in close contact with Pete the whole time the flight is in progress, seeking things such as landowner permission to recover the balloon on landing. Then it’s putting it all back into the Land Rover on landing and transporting everything, including the passengers, back to the launch site.”
As Daniel remarked this is a job that is a little bit different, and certainly doesn’t come along every day.
“No two flights are ever exactly the same, so it’s certainly not boring. Plus, as we always say, the people on the ground are every bit as important as those in the air.”
Daniel finished by saying that he hoped the fine weather would continue all summer so that as many people as possible could experience a Webster Adventures flight.
“We’ve missed so much time with the pandemic. It would be ideal to have a nice long flying season this year. Please look out for our distinctive orange balloon in the skies above Kinross, Fife & Perthshire. Most flights last around an hour and a half, you’ll see so much from the air which gives a completely different perspective!”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
