



Hot Air Ballooning is a magical experience and a flight with Ballooning Canterbury offers panoramic views across the fertile Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps.
Hot Air Ballooning is a magical experience and a flight with Ballooning Canterbury offers panoramic views across the fertile Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps.
There is nothing quite so romantic and exciting as floating effortlessly over an ever changing landscape. Top 5 bookme.co.nz reviewed products in the South Island!
Why fly with Ballooning Canterbury? Ballooning Canterbury is a New Zealand family owned and operated business situated just outside of Christchurch.
We are passionate about flying. Michael Oakley is one of New Zealand's top balloonists. He has been flying since 1987, winning 10 national ballooning events throughout New Zealand and representing New Zealand at World Hot Air Balloon Championships.
Michael is also a keen glider pilot having represented New Zealand at World Gliding Competitions and has held New Zealand and World gliding records. Michael also holds a private pilot’s licence. Nicholas has been flying in balloons since he was 4 years old. He had his first solo flight in a balloon at 12, solo glider flight at 14 and solo power plane flight at 16 years of age. He won his first Balloon Fiesta at 14. At 22 he gained his Commercial Hot Air Balloon License and started flying for the family business. Nicholas is also a keen glider pilot, having won National Titles in New Zealand and representing New Zealand at junior and senior World Gliding Championships in Australia and Europe.
We are passionate about Canterbury. Michael and Nicholas were born and raised in the area and are also 5th and 6th generation Canterbury farmers. Their experience with flying and Canterbury's unique weather patterns gives him a wealth of knowledge to guide you through the elements you’re flying in, as well as providing insight into the fertile Canterbury Plains, river gorges and mountains passing below.
We are only 30 minutes’ drive west of Christchurch Airport. In-flight photos of your balloon flight are given to you for free by way of Facebook. We hold the Hall of Fame Certificate for 5 consecutive years of Excellence.
All prices are shown inNZD ($)
Real highlights, tips, and the helpful advice straight from Bookme customers who’ve actually done this experience, summarised with AI support
Awesome experience! Beautiful views, safe, professional and memorable! Super service from start to finish!
What a morning - Helping to setup the balloon and getting it prior to sunrise into the air. Great experience, friendly team. The whole trip felt safe ... and the views are amazing. Only drawback: you need to get up early!
One more off the bucket list. WOW Would recommend to anyone JUST DO IT.
What a a great experience. Being a small part of the set up and pack down added a beautiful touch to an already beautiful morning. Loved the view from below and above the cloud line, and Nick was a knowledgeable and very friendly pilot. We felt safe and looked after through the whole experience and the fresh fruit and bubbly with the traditional ballooning blessing on landing was an excellent touch. Highly recommend to all.
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Karl Schmelzer from Australia wrote on 25 April 2026
Beautiful trip
Wonderful ballooning experience over the Canterbury plains at dawn