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Urban Air to Bring Indoor Skydiving Competition to the USA
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The indoor skydiving industry in the USA is in for some big changes beginning this summer thanks to Urban Air Adventure Parks. The trampoline and adventure park brand will open it’s first vertical wind tunnel this summer.
In this article we will introduce the company and their indoor skydiving concept which we believe will be a game changer for the industry.
About Urban Air
The trampoline park company was co-founded in 2011 by Michael Browning, Jr. and Michael Browning, Sr. The past 7 years has seen the company grow both in numbers and approach. Urban Air now has 45+ locations across 20+ states and several international locations. The company is about to boom with the number of overall Urban Air locations is set to double in 2018.
The company has been a pioneer in the trampoline park space by continually working to include forward-thinking attractions to their parks. The company’s parks feature numerous patented and proprietary attractions. Today you’ll find trampolines, ninja courses, indoor climbing walls, zip-line roller coasters, bowling alleys, go karts, and more.
To support the growth in numbers and complexity of facilities, Urban Air recently received strategic investment from MPK Equity Partners and AHR Growth Partners. This financial backing will allow Urban Air to continue to expand their concept and support the exponential growth to come.
The focus on constantly expanding their attraction offerings has led the company to consider indoor skydiving as an attraction. The first indoor skydiving location was announced 2017. Since that time, a total of 10 locations have been announced with several currently under construction.
Visit our sister site, Action Park Source, for a full listing of all the Urban Air parks – including those without indoor skydiving as an attraction.
Indoor Skydiving as an Attraction
Urban Air is currently on-track to open the first non-iFLY/SkyVenture wind tunnel in the USA (not counting the now defunct Airborne San Diego). The first Urban Air indoor skydiving facility in Fort Worth, TX is due to open this summer with the 9 additional locations to follow in 2018-2019. Interesting to note – these locations mostly sit in markets with existing iFLY tunnels.
The company is taking an alternate approach to the indoor skydiving facility. Rather than a standalone wind tunnel, Urban Air is presenting indoor skydiving as an attraction within a multi-attraction facility.
The result will be a smaller wind tunnel, approximately 10 ft in diameter. While these tunnels may not satisfy the needs of all proflyers, they should do a great job of providing the indoor skydiving experience to first time flyers.
The smaller, efficient tunnels will allow for a lower price point. This will enable more people to enjoy repeat flights, ultimately furthering the sport of bodyflight. Since indoor skydiving is not the only thing to do at an Urban Air, these parks will be very attractive to families. We expect the first time flyer market to respond positively to these advantages when compared to a standalone facility.
If successful, we expect this concept to have a big impact on the US indoor skydiving market.
Flight Instructors Needed
The Fort Worth location has opened applications for flight instructors. If you’re interested in helping operate the first Urban Air indoor skydiving attraction, you can apply here via ZipRecruiter.
We will be following the Urban Air indoor skydiving developments very closely. Stay tuned via our Facebook page and email lists for more information.
Published: April 3, 2018 | Last Updated: December 2, 2021
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