Australia’s only maker of hot air balloons
has been in business for over three decades and has created nearly 500 balloons,
which take about three months each to manufacture.
The Hornsby Advocate has profiled local business Kavanagh Balloons, which has been in business since 1979 and manufactures at Mt Kuring-gai.
Its supply chain includes fabric sourced
from South Africa, cane from south-east Asia and fuel tanks from Melbourne. It employs eight.
One canopy is made from about 2,000 square
metres of fabric and stitched by a sewing machine from about 800 panels. Each
takes about three months to create, and the balloons have been exported to
locations including Kenya, Qatar and Japan.
Phil Kavanagh, the father in the
father-and-son-run team, has been creating balloons for 45 years, and has made
497 in total.
Image:
www.facebook.com/kavanaghballoons