Features, Technical Information

The 2023 Indoor Skydiving Industry Report

Unprecedented inflation and fears of a recession have pushed the indoor skydiving industry to its limits. 

2023 indoor skydiving industry report feature image
January 10, 2024
Charlie Centa

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Whatever way you look at it, 2023 has been a tough year for the indoor skydiving industry. But hasn’t it been a tough year for almost every industry?

Consumers have been suffering the impact of sky-high inflation and talk of an imminent recession has built up enough momentum to knock even some of the biggest companies in the world off of their high horses.

Given the situation, it’s hardly surprising that the indoor skydiving industry has also taken a knock. The question is, can it stay alive for long enough to make a full recovery?

Please note: All data shown on this page have been taken from the ISS database. We work closely with manufacturers and tunnel operators to keep our database as up-to-date as possible but we recognize that 100% accuracy is impossible. As such, the content displayed on this page is purely for informational and entertainment purposes only.

Key Findings

  • Only 4 wind tunnels were opened to the public in 2023 – the lowest number since 2011 when indoor skydiving was in its infancy (excluding the pandemic year of 2020). In fact, even 2020 brought 4 tunnel openings while the whole world was in lockdown.
  • Only 2 manufacturers finished projects in 2023, down from 6 the previous year.
  • iFLY forges ahead with 3 tunnel openings and doesn’t seem to have any plans of slowing down the growth of its franchise.
  • Indoor Skydiving Source is aware of 2 wind tunnel projects that were canceled in 2023, although we suspect the real number is quite a bit higher than this.
  • Manufacturer inquiries for wind tunnel investments saw a 16% decline YoY. Could this mean that the near-future outlook isn’t as bright as one would hope?
  • There are 19 tunnels currently under construction. Contrary to the last point, if some of these projects are closed before the end of 2024 it could make for a great come-back year.

infographic highlighting the changes to the indoor skydiving industry in 2023 - indoorskydivingsource.com

2023 Tunnel Openings

Find the full list of new tunnels opened in the last year below:

Future Outlook for the Indoor Skydiving Industry

  • With 19 tunnels currently under construction, there’s still potential for 2024 to become a come-back year for the indoor skydiving industry. There were 20 tunnels under construction in 2022 so we can only hope that some of those longer projects that weren’t completed in 2023 will soon come to a close in the coming months.
  • Having already announced more projects for 2024, iFLY seems likely to continue its expansion with a focus on the US market.
  • The Total Tunnels Opened By Year graph on our infographic shows a pretty clear S curve, often slated to depict the end of a product’s life cycle. Could this be the case for indoor skydiving as an experience product or is it just a step back due to the current economic climate? Only time will tell. I for one hope it’s the latter!

Published: January 10, 2024 | Last Updated: January 10, 2024

The 2023 Indoor Skydiving Industry Report
Written by,
Charlie Centa
Charlie Centa is the owner of two of the world's leading skydiving websites: indoorskydivingsource.com and sister site, skydivingsource.com. Originally from the UK, he now lives in sunny Spain where he spends his time between living in a van in the mountains climbing and skiing, and working on his websites. When he's not doing either of those things, Charlie can be found writing witty bios about himself!

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