What’s On shares details of Inflight Dubai’s plans to add a new, 22ft wind tunnel to its existing 16.5ft facility on the Al Ain Road.


Will Smith is going to have to book another trip to Dubai.

The A-lister strapped on a helmet and took the plunge at the world’s biggest indoor skydiving tunnel last time he was here – but Inflight Dubai is now working on an even bigger version on the Palm Jumeirah.

Along with actor Smith, Inflight Dubai has hosted tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, and singer Maxwell at its 16.5ft tunnel next to the Skydive Dubai Desert Campus – not to mention thousands of the UAE’s adrenalin junkies.

And they’re determined to go one better with their new facility on the Palm, set to measure a whopping 22ft across. Further details of the project are being kept under wraps.

The first wind tunnel, which opened last August, recreates wind speeds of up to 305km per hour – fiercer than a category five hurricane. At 65ft tall, 22 people can take the plunge in unison, and there is an observation deck so friends and family can snap those all-important pictures.

Inflight Dubai’s new tunnel – billed as its widest, tallest and strongest yet – is understood to be part of the Dhs2.5bn Nakheel Mall development on the Palm.

Scheduled for completion in 2016, the project incorporates 418,000sq metres of retail, dining and entertainment space, along with two further malls and a boardwalk.

The project is the third of note to be announced for the Palm this year, with ‘The Pointe’ also due to spring up the Atlantis.  The team behind the upmarket retail development is touting it as ‘one of the most iconic retail and entertainment destinations in Dubai.’

It will be accessible by water taxis and via the Palm monorail, which will be connected to the mainland tram system upon completion.