WHAT'S the best airline in the world? Singapore Airlines? Japan Airlines? BA on a good day? No, without doubt, KIITA is the most enjoyable way to fly.

Never heard of it? That's scarcely surprising. At almost £40,000 for a flight that will cover no more than a few miles, it's a little pricey. Furthermore, you can't book a seat - it's standing room only.

KIITA is not the latest private jet initiative, but an elevated marketing ploy by the champagne house Krug. It stands for Krug Is In The Air, a bespoke hot-air balloon that allows diners to enjoy an apéritif as they float along at 5,000ft, looking down on everyone else, before landing and sitting down to a meal with some grand crus, owned by Krug's parent company, the luxury-goods conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy.

Krug is famous for its snootiness. Olivier Krug, who runs the company, won't even admit to making mere champagne. “There is champagne and then there is Krug,” he likes to opine. But in a world drowning with fizz, even Monsieur Krug has to work harder to keep business flowing.

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So, after setting up a secret underground Krug Room in the Dorchester hotel on Park Lane, where a different Krug is served with each course, he has created the world's most extravagant, and possibly most expensive, restaurant.

Getting into this airborne El Bulli starts luxuriously enough. A first-class BA flight to Phoenix, Arizona - yes, we're going ballooning in the desert - and a bed at one of those rare hotels that gets just about everything right. The Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain has no rooms. Instead, every guest has a casita, each with its own front door, stocked kitchen, terrace, windows you can open and a real log fire with wood and firelighters.

Give me all the iris-recognition entry systems and sleep sommeliers in the world, nothing is more luxurious than waking up in the cool desert morning, lighting a fire and making your own cup of coffee.

As the sun dips towards the desert scrub that evening, a black Range Rover pulls up outside my front door. It's time to get high. The Krug balloon sits ten minutes away on the local golf course.

The balloon is a physical expression of the entente cordiale. Its wicker basket, canopy and burners are made by Camerons of Bristol, while the basket is clad in white “Togo” leather by the French upholsterers Bruno Domeau & Philippe Pérès. It is so soft, it's like an outsized Hermès Birkin bag - and about as expensive.

The American star chef Beau MacMillan has the tough task preparing food to stand up to the grand crus. His menu à terre starts on the ground with foie gras crème brulée with sea salt and tomato jam to go with the Krug Grand Cuvée. Then it's time to board.

Our “flight commander” - no mere pilot when you're flying this high - is Chris Monk. He is English and cheery, which is hardly surprising since his balloon is nicer than his house. As our salon in the sky soars to 3,000ft, Micha Olson, our waiter, pours the Grand Cuvée from his white leather iced satchels and opens the first dish - pickled vegetable roll with devil fried oyster and remoulade emulsion.

The lid is full of feathers that fly away when I open the box. It's followed by bluefin tuna with light sesame crème fraîche and caviar on a cassava cracker, and we finish amusing our bouches with baked Brie feuilleté with cracked black pepper caramel and toasted walnuts.

Soaring over mountain ranges while enjoying bubbles and bites is a great way to travel. But heaven forbid that I should think the whole thing is a marketing gimmick. Monk assures me that champagne and ballooning go together like, er, rich people and Krug.

Back in the 1780s, the first balloonists took along bottles of champagne to offer farmers in case their landing disturbed grazing animals. Sensing that I'm still swallowing only the champagne and not the soufflé de hot-air he is serving up, Monk tries another tack: “A balloon ride is like a grape harvest. Until you start, you do not know what you're going to get.”

Things get less fluffy once we land. One of the benefits of being swallowed up by a luxury goods behemoth is that you can raid the parents' cellar. And what a cellar. Our trilogy of Maple Leaf Farms Duck and Rosemary Crusted Mill Brook Farms Venison pales in comparison with the Château Cheval Blanc 1995, one of the world's great clarets. The sticky toffee bread pudding is outclassed by the Château d'Yquem 2000.

So, is a ride in a laundry basket worth the stratospheric price tag? Clearly, not. No meal is ever “worth” £40,000. But Krug is not selling slow food. It's selling exclusivity. There is only one balloon and it flies only a handful of times a year. Hire it and you'll have bragging rights for months to come. And, to some, that's priceless.

NEED TO KNOW

Krug Is In The Air (020-7245 4213, www.krug.com) will be available from June 21 for three weeks in Somerset. It costs about £39,500 for a party of eight.

John Arlidge flew to Phoenix with British Airways (0844 4930787, www.ba.com), which has return fares from Heathrow from £444.70. Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain (001 480 948 2100, www.sanctuaryaz.com) has rooms from £160.

THREE OTHER LUXURY ESCAPES

High-tech hideaway

Aspiring castaways can bring the family and leave their shoes at home on Motu Tané, a tiny island across the sapphire waters from Bora Bora in the South Pacific. For about £20,000 a day (for a party of 20) a scattering of bungalows is yours. There is nothing to do all day but laze on the white beach, snorkel on the reef - and check your e-mails, phone your stockbroker or watch satellite television, thanks to the high-tech communications system among the palm trees. Book through Sanctuare (001 203 602 0300, www.sanctuare.com)

Shine like a diamond

Unlock your precious inner self with a spa treatment using real diamonds. At the Desert Island Resort & Spa, which will open in November on a private island in the Arabian Gulf off the coast of Abu Dhabi, you will come out sparkling from the Diamond Experience. For about £225 you will be polished with diamond dust until your body shines, and have a facial that includes gem therapy. A three-night weekend break in a Beach Villa, including flights, is from £1,269pp with Destinology (0800 0722227, www.destinology.co.uk)

Command your own yacht

Sail the fleshpots of the South of France on a private yacht with a captain and crew at your command. The sleek Elysia, a four-cabin Ferretti 780, costs from £42,000 for a week. As well as unpacking your bags and catering to your every whim, the crew will get you into private beach clubs in St Tropez, make dinner reservations in Cannes, find a babysitter and summon up a personal shopper. Book through Elegant Yachts (01244 897516, www.elegantresorts.com)

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