Mazu to Join This Year's Hot Air Balloon Festival 東縣促民間與西班牙合作 設熱氣球飛行學校

The Taitung County Government is currently working to help Skyrainbow Airlines and a Spanish aviation school jointly establish a balloon flight school in Taitung.

The Taitung County Government recently announced that a Mazu hot air balloon will be part of this year's Taiwan International Balloon Festival. It was made in Spain, and the county government and sponsor Taitung Tianhou Temple have sent personnel to test drive the balloon. The Mazu balloon is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan in April, where it will be taken for a test flight by local pilots. All of Taiwan's hot air balloon pilots learned how to fly overseas, which is extremely expensive, because there are no schools for hot air balloon pilots in Asia. This is why the Taitung County Government is currently working to help Skyrainbow Airlines, which offers balloon flights in Taiwan, and a Spanish aviation school to jointly establish a balloon flight school in Taitung. They have already signed a memorandum of understanding and an application will be submitted to the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The school will be able to license hot air balloon pilots.

Li Jung-ling, Hot Air Balloon Pilot: “People will be able to save a lot of time and money, and it will make the process of getting licensed much easier. To go overseas, you have to take English proficiency tests.”

Liu Chi-peng, Section Director, Tourism Dept., Taitung County: “The county government is promoting the hot air balloon industry, and pilot training is the last piece of the puzzle.”

Skyrainbow Airlines said related regulations for hot air balloon piloting are being formulated under domestic civil aviation laws. The establishment regulations of foreign schools will be used as a reference and the issue will be discussed with the CAA. The future school will recruit students from all over Asia, as it will be Asia's first hot air balloon flying school.

台東縣政府公布今年熱氣球嘉年華再增加的媽祖造型熱氣球，已經在西班牙製作完成，縣府和出資建造的天后宮都派人前往試乘。這顆媽祖熱氣球，預計會在4月回到國內由我國飛行員試飛，但國內的熱氣球飛行員都是從國外訓練回國，成本相當高。這次縣府特別促成國內專門飛行熱氣球的天際航空公司和西班牙一所飛行學校合作，雙方簽訂合作備忘錄，要向民航局申請成立熱氣球飛行學校，解決國人出國考照的不便。

熱氣球飛行員李容伶指出：「可以節省很多時間成本取得也比較容易，如果我們去國外的話還要測試英文能力之類的。」

台東縣政府交觀處科長劉奇朋表示：「縣政府在推動熱氣球產業這一塊飛行員訓練，應該是算我們最後一塊的拼圖。」

天際航空表示，國內民航法規也還在規畫熱氣球飛行的相關規範，會參考國外的飛行學校設立法規再和民航局討論。一旦設立也會招收亞洲國家的學員，成為亞洲地區第一所熱氣球飛行學校。