Venezuela to offer hot air balloon flights to boost tourism

Venezuela will offer hot air balloon flights from December onwards in an effort to boost tourism, Transportation Minister Ramon Velasquez Araguayan said here.

"In December, we will activate hot air balloon flights in Venezuela's tourist destinations," he said on Twitter, where he also posted a video about the flight trials.

In order to guarantee safety flights, the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics was shaping all the regulations that would supervise the balloon-navigation, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Minister made the announcement on Sunday after the second successful flight test.

The Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Tourism will offer the service from December in Canaima National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Bolivar state.

Venezuela is home to the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls and the second longest river in South America, the Orinoco.

It also has the longest coastline on the Caribbean Sea.