The red-and-white Monaco Moravia hot-air balloon rose once more over the Place du Palais during the Monaco Yacht Show, a weather-dependent spectacle staged for the second year running by the Club des Aéronautes de Monaco — even as the club set its sights far beyond the Principality, on a coast-to-coast crossing of the United States.

Tethered to the ground and fully inflated rather than set free, the balloon was displayed in the square beneath the Prince’s Palace. Staging it there is never guaranteed: wind strength and direction are tracked hour by hour, and at times minute by minute, and the decision to go ahead was confirmed only minutes before inflation began, once conditions were judged favourable.

“The trust placed in us by the Sovereign, by allowing us to fly on his land, is an immense honour,” said Alain Cruteanschii, the club’s founder, president and pilot of the national balloon, who summed up the evening as “a feeling of pride, and of a duty accomplished”.

Prince Albert II has accepted the honorary presidency of the Aéronautes de Monaco, lending official backing to what Cruteanschii called an “eco-friendly red-and-white balloon, a true symbol of the Principality’s commitment”. The display was mounted with the club’s principal partner, Moravia Yachting, on board since last year.

Across America, and around the Alps

The club’s ambitions now reach well beyond Monaco. Its headline plan is to cross the United States from east to west in 2027–2028, over seven stages and nearly two months. “Departing from Philadelphia, the birthplace of Princess Grace,” Cruteanschii said, “this adventure will take us to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, where we will compete in the Nations Cup” — a route that ties Monaco’s balloon to the American hometown of its late princess.

Before then, the balloon has a busy winter. In January it is due to appear at the Mondovì festival in Italy, at Méribel in the Three Valleys and at the International Château-d’Œx Balloon Festival in Switzerland; in February it heads to Verbier and to Auron in the Alpes-Maritimes, with further destinations promised.

For Cruteanschii, the payoff is exposure for the Principality. The American crossing, he said, will provide “a remarkable international showcase for what, in our eyes, is one of the Principality’s most beautiful emblems”.

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Main photo credit: Ed Wright