Dubai: The FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015 — the veritable Olympics of air sport from December 1-12 — marks the pinnacle of the city marking its growth as the hub of air sport.
The ‘Air Revolution’ started a mere six years back when Dubai played host to its very own Dubai International Parachuting Championship (DIPC). At first, residents and visitors visited the Skydive Dubai site more out of a curiosity.
The year 2009 now seems to be a distant past as urged by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the Skydive Dubai is a definite must-go site for all due to the varied air activities and challenges lying in wait for the fans.
Behind each event of this nature is a huge amount of work put in by a round-the-clock team of experts and dedicated folk. Nasser Al Neyadi, President of the Emirates Aerosport Federation (EAF) and his deputy Yousuf Al Hammadi have merely implemented what Shaikh Hamdan has always wanted: that Dubai has an edge in showing the way for the rest of the world.
“He [Shaikh Hamdan] merely wants us to be different. He wants us to innovate and to create. He loves these new type of challenges. And when our leaders want something we are merely soldiers who are every-willing to realise such dreams for an entire nation,” Al Hammadi told Gulf News.
For nearly first two weeks of December, it will be a true celebration of everything even remotely connected to air sport. A total of 26 different air competitions will be held under one single umbrella that has been aptly named ‘World Air Games (WAG) Dubai 2015’.
“When we bid for this event we were more than confident we could come out of it all as one of the best organisers. Today, when we are merely a few hours away from the start of the competition, we know that we will exceed the expectations of everyone around the world. We always want to be the best, and I have no doubt in my mind that we will stage the best-ever World Air Games in the history of air sport,” Al Hammadi said.
This is no idle boast from the experienced official, who has been associated with air sport in the UAE right from its inception way back in the 1970s. “We were not organised in the proper sense way then. But now with Shaikh Hamdan showing us the way, we are confident of being the best-ever destination of air sport in the world,” he added.
So hosting a competition that is considered the Olympic Games of air sport is indeed a huge pat for sport in the UAE. “The World Air Games stand for what the UAE and Dubai stand for — creativity and innovation in all fields. It gives us great pride to host more than 1,200 athletes participating in the 26 different sports disciplines over 12 days of competition all over Dubai. Our goal is to create an honest legacy in a field that is fast developing into a very popular brand of sport,” Al Hammadi noted.
Meanwhile, nearly all delegations and participants have landed for the 12-day competition that will commence with the Aerostats hot air airships from 4 to 7pm on Tuesday. This will be followed by the formal inauguration of the WAG 2015 with an impressive opening ceremony at the Skydive Dubai site.
On Wednesday, competition will continue from 5am with the aerostats hot air balloons and hot air airships followed by the popular parachuting Canopy Piloting from 7.30am.
“This event is very people-friendly and we want residents and visitors to the UAE to come and attend the functions and competitions. This event is for the people of the UAE,” Al Hammadi said.
