How far will we fly?

A hot air balloon flight can be controlled only to a limited extent. We have no control over the speed or direction of the flight. These factors are entirely determined by the wind. The pilot can only control the altitude of the flight. Of course, before take-off, the pilot checks the wind directions at different altitudes and adjusts the flight plan accordingly. That’s why it’s difficult to specify the exact distance a balloon will travel. The pilot can estimate an approximate distance shortly before take-off — although even that may still change. In practice, we usually cover between a few and 20 kilometres in an hour, though under certain conditions — when the wind speed differs significantly between ground level and higher altitudes — the distance can reach up to 30 kilometres.