Archive for category: HiFlyer

In January 2011, the operators of the Ahmedabad HiFlyer, Sky Wanderers were delighted to announce that they had flown a record number of passengers since opening to the public on the 8th September 2010.

The owner operators of the balloon are needless to say very proud of their achievement. In correspondence to Keith Goffin, LTL’s HiFlyer Sales and Operations Director, they stated:

“It gives us immense pleasure to share that in a span of 115 days of operations (except Mondays, including days of non-flying due to weather and 4-5 days of servicing), on the eve before our Republic Day, Ahmedabad Eye-Balloon Safari has crossed a milestone of 100 Thousand (which includes 700 free kids and 4000 odd concessional kids). Thank you all at Lindstrand Technologies for having given us a great back-up at all times.”

Since we recieved this good news in January the Ahmedabad Eye is flying over 1000 passengers a day.

As a national treasure of traditional cultural heritage in Korea, Gyeongju is a global city of culture and history.

With the project of establishing a city of history and culture, and the promotion of three major national projects, Gyeongju is advancing to become not only a representative tourism city for history and culture but also the city of cutting edge technology.

This is where the Lindstrand HiFlyer fits in perfectly. The system was installed in early December 2010 at the Bomun ATV Experience centre, part of the Bomun Lake Resort. The resort provides accommodation, fine dining, recreation and sports facilities in the city of Gyeongju.

Visitors can now enjoy rides in the HiFlyer to view the 20km square park area. What better way to view the mass pink petals of cherry blossoms in the month of April whilst silently climbing to 120 meters in the company of giraffes.

Ahmedabad, largest city in the State of Gujurat in the north west of India, is now the proud owner of India’s first passenger carrying tethered aerostat – the Lindstrand HiFlyer.

The site is located near Kankaria Lake, the biggest lake in Ahmedabad (in earlier days it used to known as Qutub Hojj), where all kings, or badshah, used to bathe. With an approximate circumference of 1.4 miles (2.3 km), it represents the regale history of Ahmedabad. It is located in the southern part of the city in Maninagar area, which is the most densely populated suburb of the city. Kankaria was built by Sultan Kutubuddin in 15th century A.D. The work was completed in 1451.

After an agonising slow sea voyage and a port diversion, the goods arrived on site amid much flourish, and the hardware including the large winch and mooring winches were all installed, load tested and ready for inflation in 2 days. A record for any Lindstrand installation team!

Our team had a running battle with thunderstorm and monsoonal downpours which ensured that the inflation was one of the most difficult LTL has had from start to finish.

Chief Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the long-awaited HiFlyer. Children from low income families will be given special rides on the balloon, courtesy of the AMC (Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation).

Since the opening, the Ahmedabad Eye flew 1552 passengers in a single day – a record for any Lindstrand HiFlyer.

A new chapter in HiFlyer installations has begun in China for LTL.

LTL’s second HiFlyer in China has just been installed under new state regulations. It opened to the public on June 1st to mark International Day of Children and is located in a key tourist area of the Qujiang district in southern Xi’an (probably most famous for the Terracotta Army).

It is situated close to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda – a key cultural site and holy place for Buddhists and was used to collect Buddhist materials from India during the Tang Dynasty era.

The HiFlyer is also in close proximity to Tang Paradise which is a relatively new cultural theme park representing the tang dynasty culture and housing an area of water 49 acres in size.

Rides in the HiFlyer command breathtaking views over the city and key historical sites.

With Johannesburg as the host city for the 2010 FIFA World Cup football fever is already high in South Africa. LTL has kicked off its own campaign by supplying two identical HiFlyers to one customer simultaneously in March 2009. They were designed and built at the Oswestry factory and both envelopes are full size reproductions of red and white footballs. The HiFlyer envelopes are the largest ever constructed at the same time by LTL with a volume of 7800m3 each. This design change is due to the high altitude of Soweto and Johannesburg which lie at 1750 metres and 2000 metres respectively (a boiled egg will take an extra minute to cook and some tourists have been known to suffer from altitude sickness!)

Lindstrand Technologies’ representative in South Africa – Francis Chikasha operating as Aerail Displays (Pty) Ltd – became associated with HiFlyers back in 1999 when he was involved with the ‘Float over the Falls’ HiFlyer at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Francis now works and lives in South Africa running his own company. He purchased his first HiFlyer (an all red one) back in 2005 for the Montecasino complex in Johannesburg and was sponsored by ABSA. ABSA is one of the largest banks in South African and is also the main football sponsor for the South African football league, just as Barclays Bank sponsors the football league here in the UK.

The Montecasino complex was the location for the first of the two HiFlyers installed in March. The second site was the Maponya Mall in Soweto, 14 miles from Johannesburg. The mall in Soweto marks a transformation for the Johannesburg township, once an impoverished centre in the struggle against apartheid. The complex covers 65,000 m2 and has 200 stores and an eight-screen cinema. It is the brainchild of 82-year-old entrepreneur Richard Maponya, who began in business by opening a dairy in Soweto in the 1950s.

Maponya Mall is one of the largest shopping centres in Southern Africa and was opened in 2007 amid much pomp and ceremony and with the blessings of Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela returned to Soweto for the first time in many years in 2007 to open the shopping complex. Soweto is the most populous black urban residential area in the country, thanks to its proximity to Johannesburg, the economic hub of the country; it is also the most metropolitan township in the country – setting trends in politics, fashion, music, dance and language. Soweto is seeing an increase in tourists who want to pay their respects to Nelson Mandela and Hector Pieterson in particular, two larger-than-life heroes of the struggle against apartheid – an opportunity which Aerial Displays hopes to tap into.

The LTL crew first deflated the existing all red HiFlyer at the Montecasino complex in Johannesburg and then installed the new ‘football’ HiFlyer the next day. This HiFlyer was up and inflated and taking passengers 2 days after installation. This was closely followed a week later by the installation of the second ‘football’ HiFlyer in Soweto.

The balloons officially opened in April and LTL are pleased to report that there have been no penalties given or red cards issued. The residents of Soweto in particular love their new giant football. LTL continues to win on away goals!