As Global Helium Shortage Grounds Party Balloons and Strains Hospitals, an Arizona Manufacturer Says Its Advertising Blimps Fly on One-Third the Gas
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GLENDALE, Ariz. – September 10, 2026 – With roughly a third of the world’s helium supply offline since the March 2026 strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan complex, U.S. gas distributors are rationing deliveries, invoking force majeure on contracts, and prioritizing hospitals and semiconductor fabs over everyone else. For most businesses that rely on helium — from party stores to trade-show exhibitors — that has meant canceled orders, surcharges, and empty tanks.
Arizona Balloon Company, a 47-year-old manufacturer of helium advertising blimps and balloons, says the shortage is the moment its founding engineering decision was built for.
“Every advertising blimp we’ve made since 1979 is polyurethane, not PVC,” said Johnny Mulder, owner of Arizona Balloon Company. “Polyurethane film is lighter and far less porous, so it holds helium longer and needs about a third of the gas to stay in the air. In a normal year that just means our rentals are cheaper. In a year like this, it means our customers can still fly when their competitors can’t get a tank filled.”
The numbers behind the claim
The company’s 13-foot blimp — its most popular rental for home builders and auto dealers — holds roughly 170 cubic feet of helium. Comparable PVC blimps from other manufacturers typically require several times that volume, and because PVC leaks faster, they need more frequent top-offs across a campaign.
That gap has always been the reason Arizona Balloon Company could offer short-term rentals when most of the industry sells outright. With helium spot prices reported to have roughly doubled since March and many distributors capping allocations at half of prior volumes, the same gap now determines whether a blimp goes up at all.
“We’ve had customers call us after their previous supplier told them there was no helium to be had,” Mulder said. “When you need a fraction of the gas, the shortage math changes. A 170-cubic-foot fill is something a local distributor can still say yes to.”
Built in Arizona, flown nationwide
Arizona Balloon Company designs, manufactures, and prints every blimp and balloon at its facility in Glendale, Arizona, and ships rentals and purchases across the United States. Its client list includes NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the U.S. Navy, the National Institutes of Health, and Arizona State University, alongside hundreds of home builders, car dealerships, and trade-show exhibitors.
The company is a member of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, the Dallas Builders Association, and the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin.
Industry analysts have warned that repairing the damaged Qatari production trains could take years, with helium prices expected to remain elevated well beyond 2026. Arizona Balloon Company says that outlook makes helium efficiency a permanent buying criterion for advertisers rather than a temporary one.
“For 47 years, ‘uses less helium’ was a nice line on our price list,” Mulder said. “Now it’s the first question every customer asks. We’re glad we answered it in 1979.”
About Arizona Balloon Company
Arizona Balloon Company is a Glendale, Arizona manufacturer of helium advertising blimps, custom advertising balloons, and cold-air inflatables, founded in 1979. The company designs, builds, and prints every product in-house in the United States and offers both rental and purchase options to home builders, auto dealers, trade-show exhibitors, and businesses nationwide. Its mission is to give businesses the most visible, cost-effective outdoor advertising available, using polyurethane construction that flies longer on less helium than conventional PVC. Learn more at https://arizonaballoon.com.
Media Contact
Johnny Mulder Owner, Arizona Balloon Company Glendale, Arizona Phone: 1-800-791-1445 Email: johnny@arizonaballoon.com Website: https://arizonaballoon.com
Media Contact
Company Name: Arizona Balloons®
Contact Person: Johnny Mulder
Email: Send Email
Phone: 1-800-791-1445
Address:4333 W. Paradise Ln
City: Glendale
State: AZ
Country: United States
Website: https://arizonaballoon.com
Press Release Distributed by ABNewswire.com
To view the original version on ABNewswire visit: As Global Helium Shortage Grounds Party Balloons and Strains Hospitals, an Arizona Manufacturer Says Its Advertising Blimps Fly on One-Third the Gas
