The air up there

28.11.07 16:11 Filed in: The Prague Post
Hot-air balloon manufacturer charts distinctive course

BRNO, SOUTH MORAVIA
Hot-air balloons are the most romantic but impractical mode of transportation. Beyond
that, to Aleš Kubícek, founder of the Kubícek Balloons in Brno, south Moravia, balloons are
simply “beautiful.”
Kubícek started the company in December 1989, only a few weeks after the Velvet
Revolution, and, buoyed by his passion for all things balloon, the firm soon established
itself as a world-class balloon manufacturer, with revenues reaching 60 million Kc ($3.31
million) last year.
The company, having exceeded Kubícek’s goal of producing 50 balloons a year, is now
bursting at the seams, with customers having to wait three to six months for their custommade
balloons to be delivered.
“We are building a second manufacturing facility now,” Kubícek said. It is expected to run
at full speed in two years’ time. “Let’s not rush things,” he added.
With prices beginning in the range of 500,000 Kc ($27,624), Kubícek’s balloons do not
come cheap. But the balloons are a bargain nevertheless, since lower wages in Brno
compared with Western Europe keep them reasonably priced, according to Kubícek.
The balloons are exported to Germany, Switzerland and Austria, with customers from the
east, including Russia, the Baltic states and Central Asia, rising in importance.
While most of the company’s balloons feature the classic spherical shape, Kubícek has
gained notoriety for taking balloon construction to the extreme.
In 2003, Kubícek’s team built a “flying cathedral” to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the
Swiss canton St. Gallen. Based on a Benedictine abbey scaled down in size to 26 meters by
31 meters, the balloon looked pretty much like the real thing. “It really was a
masterpiece,” said Kubícek.
Pushing the envelope
Fascinated with flying since an early age, Kubícek started parachuting at the age of 15, and
then took on gliders and ultralight planes. In 1983, he and friends started dreaming of
making their own hot-air balloon.
Since all their information derived from a single issue of an American ballooning magazine
that found its way past the Iron Curtain, Kubícek and friends were rather clueless at the
start. They initially bought an old mill, because their original plan envisioned a sewing
machine on tracks running in circles around a laid-out textile.
Today, Kubícek’s employees sew fabric in a wide, open-spaced hall on the outskirts of
Brno. Although a mountain of fabric surrounds each sewing machine, little space is
required in relation to the enormous size some balloons reach. It’s still mostly handiwork,
since no specialized machine has been created for the task yet.
The company makes all of the balloon components itself, from the textile that comprises
the actual balloon — called the envelope — to the wicker basket. It has even developed a
unique polymer fabric for envelopes, which it spins at a subsidiary. Most other European
manufacturers use nylon, said Kubícek, but his fabric takes stress well and is highly heatresistant.
Such strength is necessary when the air inside the balloon can reach up to 125 degrees
Celsius, shooting from the company’s specialized burners, which produce short bursts of 6-
meter-high flames. This year, Kubícek Balloons won a Czech design award for its new line
of Ignis burners.
Despite its success in recent years, Kubícek Balloons is still a family-run business. Aleš
Kubícek and his wife hold 80 percent of the company. Michael SuchyÅL and Radim Polácek,
who head the sales and production departments, own another 10 percent each.
When not giving buying advice, SuchyÅL takes to the skies in balloon competitions. At work,
he’s sometimes joined in the air by customers, many of whom travel to Brno from places
as far-flung as Japan to take part in their balloon’s mandatory test flight.
“They sit in a plane for almost 20 hours, only to come to Brno and take delivery of their
balloon — it’s a pleasure,” Kubícek said.
Kubícek has no plans to expand to the U.S. market anytime soon, as the dollar would
depreciate his work, he said. In addition, it would require applying for a U.S. airworthiness
certificate. Although less strict than European regulations, the certification process would
consume precious company resources that can’t currently be spared, Kubícek said.
When more resources are free, Kubícek would like to dedicate them to a run-down 700-
year-old chateau he owns near Radešín, west Moravia, which he plans to turn into a major
ballooning destination.
“We want to turn this chateau into a European flight center,” Kubícek said. “It’s going to be
the first rental service for hot-air balloons in the world, similar in operation to a diving or
yacht center.”
Balloonists could then pick the chateau as their destination or departure point, and tourists
could take flight courses accompanied by an experienced pilot.
“Our budget plan calls for 69 million Kc [for the center]. Of course, we don’t have 69
million Kc yet, but at least we have a budget plan,” said Kubícek, who hopes to tap into EU
funding in the future.
The center would be a significant contribution to the region’s makeover from a primarily
agricultural area to tourist destination, he added.
Michael Heitmann can be reached at mheitmann@praguepost.com