Recently, Jamie has started to fly commercially, and as part of that is doing some work for his long time friend and fellow balloonist Matt Rate. Jamie and Matt have been friends for over a decade, and Jamie actually did the later portion of Matts training to get him his private license many moons ago.

Matt has worked really hard since attaining his license, and has flown all over the world building his hours and experience up to fulfil his long term ambition which was to make ballooning a viable full time job.

In 2022, Matt launched Vista Balloon Flights, a company offering a more personal approach to flying. His services revolve around small capacity flights for between two to five persons. This is ideal for couples, families, friendship groups or those not comfortable with lots of people.

The smaller capacity flights also allow for the pilot to spend more time interacting with the passengers and it allows them to have more of an insight into how the balloon works, what goes into the flight and to have a bit of participation as well. This in turn offers a more personal and enjoyable service. The passengers of course get the same perks as with the bigger rides balloons, champagne on landing, flight certificates and photos. But the real value comes firmly from the opportunity to share such an memorable experience in relative privacy with those that mean the most.

Vista’s pricing is very competitive and Matt is always on hand to answer questions and make reasonable adjustments where possible to ensure the customer gets the very best level of service.

Vista has several balloons in its fleet to meet all needs and the kit is very well looked after and maintained.

Jamie and the team at Molly Mae Ballooning are looking forward to a long and healthy working relationship with Vista Balloon Flights going forward and we hope to have many opportunities to collaborate on projects and ideas as well.

Jamie and Matt have had a number of positive meetings that will ensure the two brands can coexist and support each other, rather than conflict with services. The future goal will be that the two companies become a one stop shop for balloon related needs.

Below are some photos from Jamie’s recent flights with the Vista Z-105 which sports similar colours to our own balloon G-TIMX.

Please check out Vista Balloon Flights on their website https://www.vistaballoonflights.co.uk/ . Give them a follow on their socials and consider booking a flight with them, you wont regret it.

Look out for some more Vista related blogs, flight reports and collaborations in the near future.