Dubai: At 10am, Skydive Dubai is already in motion.
On the ground, first-time jumpers are strapped into tandem harnesses as instructors move briskly through checks. Groups are ushered forward, loaded into waiting vehicles and driven out to the aircraft. Minutes later, planes lift off in steady intervals. Overhead, parachutes begin to open, marking the skyline.
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“Business as usual,” says Mohammad Javad, Executive Vice President, Leisure & Entertainment at Shamal Holding, as he gives Gulf News an exclusive walk-through of his iconic venue.
A minute later, he points towards the sky.
“We’ve got one in the air right now… and very shortly, we’ll see the skydivers land.”
There is no sign of a restart. For Javad, the return of SkyDubai has been immediate and telling.
“Everything is definitely back on track and it’s like we never stopped.”
Operations had paused briefly amid regional uncertainty. In the last week of April, Skydive Dubai resumed with a limited-time buy-one, get-one offer, prompting an immediate surge in demand.
The response, he adds, has been overwhelming and he tells Gulf News that the offer has been extended for another week.
“We got more than 2000 DMs as soon as our offer was announced! There’s been a phenomenal response from the residents and the community as well,” he says.
That demand quickly changed the scale of operations.
“The very same moment that we opened, we had to increase the days and increase the capacity as well, due to the popularity and all the demand that we received from the residents as well,” he says.
What began as a limited reopening expanded within days.
“Initially we opened with just three days of operation -- Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But a few days in and we’ve also moved now from a three-day operation to five-day-operation, and now we’ve also put in now the sixth day for this week as well,” he says.
The numbers reflect that surge. “We are about 100, 120 per cent above the initial figures that we were thinking of,” Javad says.
Behind the scenes, he says, the work never paused.
“We never stopped working,” he says. “As a business like Skydive Dubai, you can’t really shut. You’ve got aircrafts, you’ve got other equipment and these need to continuously be looked after.”
At the same time, there was constant coordination.
“We were in constant talks with all the government and relevant authorities to make sure that we are able to get out there and start skydiving as soon as possible,” he says.
He also credits the wider UAE leadership.
“They’ve done an amazing and an outstanding job. Our leaders in the UAE have created a footprint for us within our businesses,” he says.
For Javad, the recovery reflects something deeper.
“As a city, we are resilient. And as individuals as well, we are resilient,” he says.
“The people make the spirit and the soul of Dubai and that bond is just only increasing.”
At Skydive Dubai, that connection plays out in every jump.
“We are able to touch people’s lives and we are able to add value to that experience that they have,” he says.
Most customers, he notes, are new to the experience.
“There’s a thousand different emotions that they’re going through and it all comes down to the staff, the instructor and how they take them through that journey,” he says.
For him, that transformation is the point. “Nothing excites me more than just seeing people come and try this experience and kind of change their life in one form or another,” he says.
The emphasis on safety remains unchanged.
“There is no compromise! Safety is king and this is something that we live by every day,” he says.
And the guiding principle is clear. “People first. If you put that, then everything else gets aligned automatically,” Javad says.
There is also a sense of looking ahead, carefully.
“It’s not something that you take lightly. We make sure that we have the right partners and all our processes and procedures in place before expanding,” he says.
Back on the ground, another group is being briefed. Above, parachutes continue to open against the skyline.
"We create memories for a lifetime, one jump at a time."
