iFLY Manchester Indoor Skydiving — Attraction in Trafford

I booked iFly for my niece and nephew who are 3 and 5 years old. We booked a month in advance for our trip to England. The kids were so excited about it and couldn't wait, all they could talk about the month leading up to was that they were "going skydiving".

On the day, May 20th 2024, my sister and I helped suit them up but weren't allowed into the chamber with them, where they sat on the bench waiting to fly. We stood right next to the glass to encourage them, but they couldn't hear us. The group before us had two instructors, while my niece and nephew's group only had one. Their instructor was constantly busy with the person flying, and no one was with the kids to give them any encouragement. We tried through the glass, but as they sat there, they got more and more nervous.

To make matters worse, they put both kids at the end of the line, and let all 4 other adults in the group fly before them. One pair flew for a minute each, and the other pair for 2 and a half minutes each. Then before ours got to take their first flight, they let 2 of the other adults have their second flight. We honestly were in shock - there was no instructor to help encourage or comfort the kids, and they made them sit there for over 10 minutes while all 4 adults in the group had their first and some their second flights. After over 10 minutes, the kids were terrified watching the adults flail all over.

Both kids did their first flight anyway. My 3 year old niece did amazing, while my 5 year old nephew struggled. He would have attempted his second flight, but after such an overwhelming experience and no one to comfort her after her first flight, my niece sat back on the bench super overwhelmed and scared, and started to cry. The instructor didn't notice and if I hadn't have gotten one of the other instructors to go in and get her out, to which my nephew came out too, they would have just left her sitting there crying.

Not letting the kids go first in the group was the biggest fail here, and then not having a second instructor there to distract and comfort them while they waited was the second. The group before theirs was all adults, and still had two instructors. For the rest of our trip, my niece and nephew who could not wait to "go skydiving" constantly talked about how awful it was, how it was the worst part of the trip, and how they "hated it".

The receptionist at the Manchester iFly apologized over and over, agreeing that it was ridiculous that the kids did not go first but instead just sat there. How friendly the receptionist was, was the only positive of this experience.

To make matters worse, I prepaid for the photos and videos for both my niece and nephew. I got an email with only the photos for my nephew, and nothing for my niece. I have access on the website to another couple's photos and only my nephew's pictures. I have sent 3 emails since May 20th, and no response except from their AI saying they will respond. The photos are only available for 30 days and then are deleted.

Beyond...

Let me be clear: I loved my time in iFly, freefall is such a unique feeling, but it's just impossible for me to give this anywhere near a good review. My main problem with this was how badly monetised it was. I understand that operating and training costs can't be low for a facility like this, but the whole experience still just felt like a scam.

My first problem is the time. In our booking we interpreted our "half an hour slot" to be maybe 15m training and 15m in the air, but we were actually grouped with other randoms, and only ended up with maybe 3 minutes in the air (2 flights each bought). Seems a little misleading no?

Second is the "high fly". This paid add-on, which we bought for both of our flights, just took time off our actual flying to be held onto and brought up and down once. Not worth it.

Third is how much extra add-ons were shoved in our face. At all stages, on TVs throughout the facility there were constant advertisements for the add-ons, extra or return flights, anything else which brings them more money. It felt completely obnoxious, especially inside the flight chamber where the instructors pointed at the poster inviting people to buy extra flights, I can see young children being easily misled by this and spending their parents money.

Fourth, photos. £30 for photos and videos to be emailed to you?? Are you serious?? Even theme park photo passes for all rides for an entire day don't usually go above £20, and those are overpriced anyway.

The final thing which annoyed me: After the instructor had made sure that everyone had finished flying, and did not want to buy any extra flights, ONLY THEN did he show us the basic movements to fly on your own, without someone holding onto you the entire time. During flights there really wasn't much freedom to try things with the instructor holding you, yet if these movements (eg hands turned turns your body) were taught to begin with them maybe it would be easier to fly with a little more freedom and independence.

Upon leaving we were then offered discounted return flights, which he said was "where you learn to fly" but I thought that was the whole point of our trip to begin with- not just to be held on to.

TLDR and conclusion: If it's on your bucket list, or you have money to burn, then do it, because you will enjoy it. Don't expect much freedom to try out stuff in flight, and expect the cost to be eye watering. We visited after a holiday and for 2 people to fly the cost totalled more than our flights. We payed nearly £200 for a combined 4 minutes in the air. There is no way that I could ever justify visiting again, next time I'll go skydiving from a...

I really wanted to give this a 5-star review, and I hoped it would be an incredible experience. But on reflection, it was just… average.

There were four of us in our group, and while we all agreed it was fun, we also agreed it wasn’t worth the cost, and none of us would do it again.

For me personally, the biggest issue was the price. At £50, I expected more than just a lot of waiting around for a grand total of two minutes of "skydiving." Each flight lasted one minute, and by the time you get into the tunnel, it’s over before you even register what’s happening. Honestly, it took me longer to put on the overalls.

Then there are the optional extras, which felt like a money grab. The "high fly" costs an additional £20—basically, a quick lift up and down the wind tunnel, twice, lasting about 10 seconds in total. That should absolutely be included in the base price, not an extra charge.

The photo policy was another frustration. No phones allowed, supposedly for safety, yet the instructor placed a customer’s ring in a Tupperware box under the bench right next to the tunnel. If that box isn’t getting sucked in, surely a phone held by my wife would be fine? Instead, they charge £9.99 for grainy photos (most of them of your feet) and another £9.99 for a short video. I even emailed to ask if they’d do a package deal since there were four of us—not wanting to spend a combined £80 on mostly bad photos/videos—and they said no.

The whole experience felt like booking a flight with EasyJet: an expensive ticket, loads of waiting, and endless optional extras that should have been included in the first place.

That said, I do want to give credit where it's due—our instructor, Danny, was excellent. He was friendly, efficient, and did his best to make the experience enjoyable. Watching him demonstrate his skills in the tunnel was genuinely impressive too.

Overall, it’s a unique experience, and if you've never done it before, it might be worth trying once—you may absolutely love it. But for me, it didn’t feel like skydiving, and without decent photos to remember it by, I left feeling a bit...