From First Flight to Record Holder: A Balloonist's Global Journey
Allie Dunnington, photographed in Wiltshire, describes the experience as "so serene." Her journey into the skies began in 2002 while working as a tour guide in Myanmar. A chance meeting with a British balloon pilot named Phil, who offered her a spare place on a flight, sparked a lifelong passion. Unlike flying in planes, which she doesn't particularly enjoy, ballooning offered a gentle, turbulence-free float with the wind, providing serene and picturesque views over temples. She immediately fell in love with the activity.
A Serendipitous Encounter Leads to Love and Career
Growing up in Germany, Allie initially considered becoming a doctor, but a backpacking trip through China after high school ignited her love for travel. After university, she led tours and hiking trips across Asia and the UK. On that fateful balloon flight with Phil, she had a sore throat and lost her voice, making conversation difficult, but she was drawn to his friendly personality. They exchanged email addresses after the flight, with Phil later spending a fortune on satellite phone emails due to lack of internet. Their messages grew longer, and after seven weeks, they reunited in Germany.
Their relationship blossomed quickly; Phil proposed on a sand dune in Dubai just three days after Allie visited him there. Back in Germany, they went up in a balloon again, where Phil noticed Allie's talent for flying and persuaded her to train as a pilot. She obtained her licence in 2005, and they married in Bristol in 2004, moving to the UK together. They ran an international balloon consultancy while aiming to fly in as many countries as possible.
Breaking Barriers and Achieving Milestones
As a female in a male-dominated profession, Allie became the UK's first female hot-air balloon flight examiner, a point of pride despite assumptions she was merely following Phil. She founded the Women's Balloon Event in 2010 to promote aviation to women and girls, which ran for a decade. Over more than 17 years of piloting commercial flights, she has witnessed emotional moments like mid-air proposals, including one over Tuscany where a passenger knelt in the basket to propose.
Tragically, Phil passed away suddenly in 2021 during a trip in Jordan, due to a rare form of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia combined with Covid-19. Allie continued their consultancy business and embarked on her own quest to break Phil's record of flying in 127 countries. She has now flown a hot-air balloon in 124 countries, informally acknowledged in the international ballooning community, though not an official Guinness World Record due to witnessing requirements.
Global Adventures and Future Plans
Allie has flown in every country in the Americas and was the first pilot to free-fly a balloon in Sumatra and Brunei. Her recent trips included Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, with a highlight being Tanzania's Tarangire National Park. There, she saw 13 hungry lions prowling at night from a campfire, only to fly over them the next morning in a balloon. She is planning a long expedition around west Africa next year, aiming to reach 150 countries. Allie believes Phil would be proud of her achievements, imagining him "sitting on a cloud, sipping a cider."
She has tried fixed-wing planes, gliders, and helicopter lessons, but nothing compares to ballooning, which she says requires only an adventurous spirit. Her story is a testament to passion, resilience, and the joy of exploration in the skies.
