Marrakech By Air Hot Air Balloon Flight

The includes, line by line

The Includes list carries six priced items: hotel pickup and drop off, a mini breakfast before the flight, the hot air balloon flight itself, a Berber breakfast in a Berber tent, the flight certificate, and insurance. Two further lines, the camel ride and the guide, appear with a cross, which means they are NOT included. Many buyers miss the cross and assume a camel is part of the deal. If you want one, it only exists as a separate, more expensive Marrakech By Air product that bundles the ride into the booking, not as a cheap add-on at the launch field. Money-wise, the biggest gap is flight length: the listing states no fixed time in the air, so you are buying the morning, not a guaranteed number of minutes over the desert. If a stated flight duration matters to you, BallOOning Marrakech's Palmeraie flight publishes about 40 minutes and Ciel d'Afrique's flight publishes 40 to 60 minutes.

The table below maps each line of the Includes and Excludes lists against what the listing text actually says, using only this product's own listing.

Where the money goes if you upgrade

The Comfort Flight at $155.06 is the same 5-hour shared morning but the basket is split into 4 compartments of 3 to 5 passengers each, so you are paying roughly $86 more for a smaller compartment and 5:00 or 6:00 starts only. That is less than half of what a genuinely private basket costs elsewhere. A third option, an Only Hot Air Balloon Views no-flight ticket that watches the balloons from the ground, showed as unavailable on the date checked and requires at least 5 participants.

That option type is where the lowest advertised from-prices on some listings come from, so always check which product a headline price belongs to. The full price picture is in our Marrakech balloon price guide.

Pickup and the drive out

Early morning pickup at your hotel in Marrakech, then a transfer by air-conditioned vehicle to a launch site in the surrounding countryside. The listing does not state the transfer length. The booking platform warns that the time slot you select is not the exact pickup or flight time, and your confirmed pickup details arrive only after booking.

Pastries while the balloon inflates

On arrival you get pastries, orange juice, tea, hot chocolate and coffee while the crew prepares and inflates the balloon. Most Marrakech operators serve something similar, and here it is included in the $68.90.

The flight

You climb into the basket and drift over desert valleys and hills while the pilot steers in front of the Atlas Mountains. The listing invites photos of the rocky valleys and peaks. No flight duration is stated.

The 5:00 AM slot is generally the first flight of the day, so it has the best sunrise odds, and the 6:00 and 7:00 slots depart progressively later.

Landing, breakfast and the certificate

After touching down you sit in a Berber tent overlooking the mountains for a breakfast of cornbread, pancakes, eggs, olives and mint tea. You receive a commemorative flight certificate, then the vehicle returns you to your hotel in Marrakech. The listing states no return time, and the total outing runs 4 hours.

Children under 3 and under 3 ft

The minimum age is 3 years old, and children under 3 ft (90 cm) are also listed as not suitable. A valid ID may be requested, and without it participation may be refused. If your youngest is under 4, this listing is more permissive than some. BallOOning Marrakech's Palmeraie flight and MarrakeshBallooning both exclude children under 4.

People with heart problems

The listing names heart problems as an exclusion. Across the Marrakech market, pregnancy is the single most consistent exclusion, appearing on every listing checked, and this product's not-suitable list should be read with that in mind. If health restrictions rule out flying altogether, the same operator has sold a no-flight viewing ticket in the past, though it was unavailable on the date checked for this page.

The weight limit and the missing unit

The listing prints a maximum weight per person of 110 with no unit stated, and asks anyone over the limit to contact the operator in advance. The sensible reading is 110 kg, which matches the same operator's other listing and Palmsballooning's 110 kg cap, but that is an inference, not what the listing says. MarrakeshBallooning's cap is lower at 100 kg and AtlasMontgolfière's is higher at 140 kg, so if you are near the limit, compare the weight limits across operators and get the answer in writing.

Not stated, so ask

The listing states no difficulty level and no wheelchair accessibility. Sky Discovery Balloons is the only Marrakech operator found that markets its flight as wheelchair accessible. Also note the operator is not responsible for personal belongings during the excursion, so leave anything you would hate to lose at your hotel.

Cancellation and the wind

Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours before the activity for a full refund, and reserve now, pay later is available, so booking costs nothing today. What the listing does not publish is a weather policy beyond that window. Every Marrakech balloon flight depends on wind and can be cancelled on the morning, and the pilot holds the final go or no-go call.

Book your first available morning in Marrakech rather than your last, so a grounded day leaves room to reschedule. If you are on the fence about the risk in general, read whether hot air balloons in Marrakech are safe.

Confirm the pickup time in writing

Morocco moved its clocks back one hour to permanent GMT on 20 September 2026, so any pickup time you read in older reviews or blog posts is now an hour off. The listing itself says the slot you book is not the exact pickup or flight time and that confirmed details come after booking. After booking, message the operator and get the exact pickup time and the exact riad pickup point in writing.

If your riad sits inside the Medina on a street too narrow for a vehicle, operators typically use the nearest accessible point, so confirm where that is before the morning.

Confirm the weight limit

The printed maximum weight of 110 carries no unit on the listing. Ask the operator to confirm in writing that it means 110 kg and that you are under it, and do this before travel day, since the listing asks heavier guests to make contact in advance.

What to wear on a cold desert morning

The listing asks for comfortable shoes, a hat and weather-appropriate clothing, and bans high-heeled shoes, slippers, alcohol and drugs. Marrakech winter dawns are genuinely cold, with average overnight lows of 5.9°C in January and 7.4°C in December, so layer up and wear closed flat shoes you can stand in on rough ground. By late morning the same months reach around 19 to 20°C, so a layer you can strip off matters. Our what-to-wear guide walks the whole morning hour by hour.