At Virgin Balloon Flights, we try everything we can to make sure as many people can experience the wonders of floating through the sky with us. Although there are a few safety procedures that stop that on occasion, we will give all the assistance we can to make it accessible for as many people as possible.
If you’re living with a disability, you know how hard it can be to break out of limiting beliefs and push towards something you’d like to experience. When you’ve spent a large majority of your life being told you’re unable to take part in certain experiences or even unable to work certain jobs because of your disability, it can quickly close your perspective on life. Hopefully, after reading this, we’ll be able to outline the safety aspect of our balloon flights and also show you why this shouldn’t be an issue for anyone to fly with us!
As everyone’s situation is different and some disabilities present greater challenges than others in the unique context of ballooning, it is ultimately up to you and the pilot to decide whether it will be safe for you to fly. In principle, we allow anyone to fly with us as long as they’re able to hit these 3 criteria.
- Get in and out of the balloon unassisted (Let the crew know, and they should be able to help), which is 42 inches or 1.1m high with 2-foot holes.
- Stand unassisted for 1 hour (Seats are in the basket, although you will not be able to see the views from down there!
- Get into the seated landing position with your knees curled up in front of you and both hands holding onto ropes to ensure you are secure upon landing.
Having said this, pilots are ultimately responsible for their passengers under aviation law, and if they feel uncomfortable flying someone, they will have the final decision, but if you need a little helping hand to get in and out of the basket on the day, our pilots and crew are more than happy to help. Also, if you can get into the landing position, the rules are fairly lenient, and we’ll do everything we can to give you the best experience possible.
To see more on age, weight, medical, and pregnancy restrictions, see here.
On the topic of giving a helping hand as well as mentioned at the start of this post, it can often be hard to push outside of your norm which has been shown through the struggles disabled people have had finding the careers and jobs they want. Despite being just as and if not more skilled in particular areas than others.
With that said, we want to use this platform to bring your attention to a great company, Evenbreak, which helps people with disabilities find the career they deserve. If you are disabled and looking for new or better work, why not pop along to Evenbreak's Career Hive for career support delivered by career professionals with lived experience of disability?
Remember, don’t write off what you don’t know the answer to! The world is growing, and you may find activities and jobs that are much more accessible to you than they were before, so take life by the horns and fly with us this year!
