We looked at ten years of data from BITRE and CASA. We wanted to see how things changed over this time.
Over the last 10 years there has been a gradual increase, 14% in registered aircraft. A decline was evident in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID and has recovered with a peak of 434 registered aircraft in 2023. Kavanagh is the major balloon manufacturer, averaging 68%, followed by Cameron averaging 13%.
We noted that hours flown for commercial balloon operations are still to return to pre-COVID levels. The number of hours commercial balloon operators flew in 2023 is about 11% less than the highest year, which was 2019. In numbers: 9,700 hours this year compared to 10,800 hours five years ago. Comparing the last 5 years to the previous 5 years, the average hours flown is also down by about 16%.
The average age of VH registered balloons has been increasing over the last 5 years 14.29. The average age over the last 5 years is 10% greater than the average age from 2014-2018.
