Meet Our Team

Pilots

Global Ballooning Australia commercial balloon pilots are some of the most experienced balloonists in the country. Our current pilots have been ballooning with the company for many years and all have rich histories of ballooning throughout Australia and the world. They are highly accomplished in their field with the majority of pilots having accrued over 3000hrs in hot air balloons. We have no hesitation in offering you our assurance that you will be in extremely safe hands during your balloon flight.

Global Ballooning Australia is a registered Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) flying school and has been associated with training many pilots flying in Victoria today. Kiff Saunders is a delegate of CASA and is responsible for issuing commercial balloon pilot licences in Australia.

Crew

The Global Ballooning’s ground crew are an integral part of your morning adventure. Watch as they will show you the ropes of setting up the balloon for flight, chasing the balloon to the landing point and getting us back to indulge in a sparkling breakfast, all before 9am!

Typically, their job looks relatively easy, but in reality, they play a much bigger role in how smoothly and safely the flight is conducted. Our ground crew provide pilots with a tremendous amount of support when it comes to weather observations and potential hazards. The are fully conversant with emergency procedures, first-aid, landowner relations, driving techniques, customer relations and most importantly, how to properly pour a glass of sparkling!

All ground crew undergo comprehensive training – this is documented and constantly updated. Quarterly safety seminars are conducted for our pilots and ground crew, re-addressing all significant safety issues to make sure that complacency is ruled out of our flight operations.

Our crew are definitely the worker bees of your morning balloon flight and generally, if their contribution goes unnoticed, then they have most probably done a fantastic job.

Raine Chen

Raine Chen

Ground Crew, Photographer & Designer - Raine wears many hats!

Barry Ward

Barry Ward

Mechanic & Ground Crew

Belinda Vella 

Belinda Vella 

Maintenance Manager & Ground Crew - Aircraft Airworthiness and Maintenance Control

Bronni Bowen 

Bronni Bowen 

Ground Crew & Marketing

John Stone

John Stone

Ground Crew

Nick Hambly

Nick Hambly

Ground Crew

Mark Gardner

Mark Gardner

Ground Crew

Theo Theodossiou 

Theo Theodossiou 

Transfer Driver & Ground Crew

Tash Buckley

Tash Buckley

Ground Crew

John Sanderson

John Sanderson

Ground Crew

Office Staff

Global Ballooning’s office team is core to the business’s success – a small cohesive unit; we are ‘family’ and follow the same values which are developed together, based on personalities, knowledge and experience.

The team in the office are customer service geniuses and will assist you through every step of the booking process. Aside from ballooning, the office team are responsible for admin, marketing and advertising.

Each team member brings to the office their own unique and vibrant personalities, which assist with the day-to-day running of the business.

It is not uncommon for them to be sharing food recipes, shopping tips and organising social events outside of work!

Kate Esposto

Kate Esposto

General Manager

Danielle Romani

Danielle Romani

Bookkeeper

Mandy Ho

Mandy Ho

Marketing / Business Development Manager

Lyn Drummond

Lyn Drummond

Reservations Consultant

Zhe Kuang

Zhe Kuang

Reservations & Marketing

Sammy Reis

Sammy Reis

Operations Coordinator

Mikayla Brown

Mikayla Brown

Reservations & Marketing Assistant
Top Bar IconMildura's Big Balloon Bash | 29th June – 7th July 2024