Balloon flight statistics
How often do balloons fly in Cappadocia?
In the 2025–26 season, hot air balloons in Cappadocia flew on 196 of 365 days (54%), according to the Slot Service Center (SHM) of Cappadocia University, which coordinates every flight. In the 2024–25 season they flew on 240 days.
Month by month, the most flight days so far were in August 2025 (26 of 31 days) and the fewest in February 2026 (8 of 28).
Official figures: Slot Service Center (SHM), Cappadocia UniversityChecked against the sources on November 13, 2026
How many nights should you stay?Season by season
| Period | Flight days | Share of days | Passengers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2025 – Aug 31, 2026Flight season (1 September – 31 August) | 196 / 365 | 54% | 609,800 | SHM |
| Jan 1 – Jun 30, 2026First half of the year | 90 / 181 | 50% | 256,777 | Anadolu Agency |
| Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025Calendar year | 223 / 365 | 61% | 754,098 | SHM |
| Sep 1, 2024 – Aug 31, 2025Flight season (1 September – 31 August) | 240 / 365 | 66% | 810,432 | SHM |
Month by month
Flight days in SHM's Cappadocia flight area, from the statistics SHM publishes each month.
| Month | Flight days | Share of days | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 18 / 31 | 58% | SHM |
| September 2026 | 22 / 30 | 73% | SHM |
| July 2026 | 24 / 31 | 77% | SHM |
| June 2026 | 25 / 30 | 83% | SHM |
| May 2026 | 17 / 31 | 55% | SHM |
| April 2026 | 18 / 30 | 60% | SHM |
| March 2026 | 13 / 31 | 42% | SHM |
| February 2026 | 8 / 28 | 29% | SHM |
| January 2026 | 9 / 31 | 29% | SHM |
| November 2025 | 16 / 30 | 53% | SHM |
| October 2025 | 18 / 31 | 58% | SHM |
| September 2025 | 20 / 30 | 67% | SHM |
| August 2025 | 26 / 31 | 84% | SHM |
| July 2025 | 23 / 31 | 74% | SHM |
SHM has not published figures for December 2025 and August 2026, so they are left out rather than estimated.
How many nights should you stay?
Pick your month and the nights you stay in Cappadocia. Each night gives you one balloon morning.
78%
With 2 nights in November, the chance of at least one morning with balloon flights is about 78%.
Based on SHM's figures for November 2025: balloons flew on 16 of 30 mornings (53%).
The calculation treats each morning as independent, which is a simplification: bad weather often lasts several days, so the real chance is somewhat lower. Records, not a forecast.
Questions
In the 2025–26 season, hot air balloons in Cappadocia flew on 196 of 365 days (54%), according to the Slot Service Center (SHM) of Cappadocia University, which coordinates every flight. In the 2024–25 season they flew on 240 days.
Month by month, the most flight days so far were in August 2025 (26 of 31 days) and the fewest in February 2026 (8 of 28).
Take November: balloons flew on 53% of its mornings in SHM's figures. If every morning were independent, 2 nights would give about 78% and 3 nights about 90% chance of at least one flight morning; bad weather often lasts several days, so the real chance is somewhat lower. The calculator on this page works it out for any month with data.
How to read these figures
A flight day is a day on which balloons flew in SHM's Cappadocia flight area after the morning weather assessment, as SHM reports it. The share is flight days divided by the days in the period. Passenger counts are SHM's, except the first half of 2026, reported by Anadolu Agency.
Past flight days do not tell you whether a given morning will fly: the decision is made each morning from the weather. SHM statistics and reports