Turning Point for FAI's World Air Games As Dubai Delivers
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Sportcal turns 25 Date published by Sportcal: 19/01/2016 Turning point for FAI’s World Air Games as Dubai delivers eye-catching and compact event Air Sports By Tim Smith The fourth FAI World Air Games took to the skies of Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 1 to 12 December last year, the first time the event was held outside of Europe. In what could be described as a turning point for the event and for FAI, the World Air Sports Federation, Dubai delivered a compact, city-based games, where the 23 air sports disciplines shared the same arenas and athlete experience. Although individual air sport disciplines compete regularly in separate world championships, the World Air Games is the unique occasion in which these are brought together in one event. Due to air space and venue restrictions, previous FAI World Air Games have tended to take place across airfields close to smaller towns or in the countryside, with disciplines spread across regions. However, in 2015 the organisers placed four of the six venues inside the city, meaning the majority of disciplines experienced competing against the Dubai backdrop for some or all of their competitions, while air shows integrated into the event (such as performances from UAE Air Force’s Al Fursan aerobatics team, pictured) could reach a wider, city-wide audience. This, in turn, led to impressive images coming from the competitions and air shows, promoting both the destination and the air sports themselves. Almost 2,000 congregate for first games in six years Dubai 2015 took in 10 different air sports, with 23 sporting disciplines and a total 41 medal events. FAI World Air Games 2015: Sports and disciplines Air Sport Discipline Aerobatics Powered Aerobatics Glider Aerobatics Aeromodelling Radio Control Model Helicopters Radio Control Pylon Racing Model Aircraft Control Line Model Aircraft Radio Control Aerobatics Aerostats Hot Air Balloons Hot Air Airships Amateur-built & Aircraft Building Experimental Aircraft General Aviation Air Navigation Race / Accuracy Gliding Gliding Match Racing Microlights Trikes Gyrocopters Paramotors Sportcal turns 25 Date published by Sportcal: 19/01/2016 Parachuting Formation Skydiving Artistic Events Canopy Formation Accuracy Landing Canopy Piloting Speed Skydiving Paragliding Aerobatics Landing Accuracy Rotorcraft Rotorcraft Source: FAI A total of 875 athletes from 55 nations competed in the games. The number of participants rose to around 1,500 when team and competition officials are included. The majority of participants stayed in the city for up to two weeks. A further 300-400 family and friends are estimated to have visited the games for a smaller time period. The high number of disciplines, each with specific venue and air space requirements, can be a challenge for FAI World Air Games organisers, which may be a contributing factor to 2015 being only the fourth games to take place since 1997. Past editions of the event have taken place in Turkey (1997), Spain (2001) and Italy (2009). FAI World Air Games: Past hosts Year Location Nation 1997 Cappadocia Turkey 2001 Andalusia Spain 2009 Turin Italy 2015 Dubai UAE Source: FAI Dubai was awarded the event after a formal bidding process in June 2014. The emirate has previously hosted the annual Dubai International Parachuting Championships since 2010 and in 2012 hosted the FAI World Parachuting Championships. The games were split across six venues. Three venues (Skydive Dubai [main venue], Sufouh Beach and Jebel Ali Racecourse), were within a few kilometres of each other, close to the well-known Palm Jumeirah and marina area of Dubai. The Dubai Mall Ice Rink hosted the indoor aeromodelling discipline, while only two venues (Skydive Dubai Desert Campus and RC Airfield) were outside the city, situated approximately 60km away. Games imagery proves a hit across social platforms John Grubbström, the FAI president, told Sportcal how the compact games, and its impressive visuals, “captured the interest of the public and media worldwide”. Sportcal turns 25 Date published by Sportcal: 19/01/2016 He said: “To bring all our sports together in one event, at the heart FAI World Air Games 2015 of a big city, proved to be a winning formula: for 12 days the sky of Dubai was filled with thrilling competitions and breathtaking air 875 shows. In particular, our social media audience grew exponentially athletes during the event.” 55 FAI secretary general, Susanne Schödel, added: “The FAI World Air nations Games connected all our air sports - to the public but also within 41 our organisation, much to the satisfaction of the athletes and medal events officials involved. It also showed the diversity and complexity of our sports, and the fascination and the beauty as well.” 6 venues Dubai’s high-rise backdrop leant itself well to imagery from the games being shared across social media, and as a direct result the number of followers of FAI’s Facebook page increased by 116 per cent over the event period, to over 20,000. The organisers benefited from on-board cameras with improved technologies since the last event in 2009, capturing high-resolution images from the athletes and aircraft. Some disciplines, such as formation skydiving, mandate that each formation team has a separate team member to film the dive, in order for the performance to be judged and scored, providing further footage. FAI Facebook page likes: 30 Nov – 13 Dec 25,000 20,000 15,000 Page likes' 10,000 5,000 0 30 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 Date: Nov - Dec 2015 Dubai’s high-rise backdrop lend itself well to imagery from the games being shared across social media, and as a direct result the number of followers of FAI’s Facebook page increased by 116 per cent over the event period, to over 20,000. Disciplines at the FAI World Air Games included airships, ballooning (top), parachuting canopy piloting (middle) and aeromodelling (bottom). [Photo credits: FAI] Sportcal turns 25 Date published by Sportcal: 19/01/2016 Legacies for both Dubai and FAI Staging the FAI World Air Games broadened the expertise of host Emirates Aerosports Federation, which was formed in 2012 and, prior to the games, was best known for international parachuting events. The first legacy event announcement was made on the final day of the games when it was revealed that Dubai will host the inaugural World Drone Prix on 11 March, 2016. The event, which is unrelated to the FAI, is to be organised by the World Organisation of Racing Drones. It will offer $1 million in prize money and encourages innovation within the drone industry. For event owners FAI, a lasting legacy from the 2015 FAI World Air Games was the games’ capability to bring the different air sports disciplines together within a relatively compact collection of venues. Moreover, the games also attracted a handful of potential hosts, looking to attract a future edition of the games. Grubbström told Sportcal: “Since the first edition of the games, we have demonstrated the capacity for this event to be staged in different environments, whether it be in a city, the desert, the countryside, the mountains or on the beach. “The games were a real success story - never before have air sports been showcased in such a high profile way. We now want to build on that momentum to continue to develop our activities and make the community of air sports fans grow even bigger.” FAI also has participation at more multi-sport games in its sights, including the summer or winter Olympics. Air sports disciplines, including parachuting and paragliding, have already featured in other multi- sport games, including the World Games, Asian Beach Games and World Military Games. The next FAI World Air Games is slated for 2019, with a host yet to be appointed. .