Today

Today, hot air balloons are used primarily for recreation, and there are some 7,500 hot air balloons operating in the United States. The first modern day hot air balloon to be built in the United Kingdom was the Bristol Belle. The Bristol Belle was the name given to the first modern hot air balloon in Europe. The balloon was created from an idea developed by members of the Bristol Gliding Club. This development was made by Ed Yost in the United States. Paul Edward Yost was the American inventor of the modern hot air balloon and was sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Modern Day Hot-Air Balloon." Not only him but also the were four members of the Bristol Gliding Club and project creators who decided to create their own hot air balloon were Bill Malpas “chairman of the project”, Mark Westwood, Giles Bulmer of the Bulmer cider making family and Don Cameron . The Bristol Belle balloon was completed in 1967. On July 9, 1967 the Bristol Belle took place its first flight.
The highest hot air balloon flight world record had reached 21,027 meters was set by Vijaypat Singhania on November 26, 2005. He took off from downtown Bombay, India and landed 149 miles south in Panchale. On June 6, 1988, Per Lindstrand had been set the previous record of 64,997 ft in Plano Texas. For any flight that reaches and exceeds an altitude of 3,810 meters, oxygen is needed for all crew and passengers as with all registered aircraft.
From Japan to Northern Canada, the Virgin Pacific Flyer balloon completed the longest flight in a hot air balloon when Richard Branson of the UK and Per Lindstrand flew 4,767.10 miles on January 15, 1991. The balloon envelope was the largest ever built for a hot air craft with a volume of seventy four thousand cubic meters. The Pacific Flyer recorded the highest ground speed for a manned balloon at 394 km/h designed to fly in the trans-oceanic jet streams.

Michio Kanda and Hirosuke Tekezawa of Japan made the longest duration hot air balloon flight with a time 50 hours and 38 minutes.