By Aleko Lilly, Head of Business Development, Birdly
As airports reopen, often with limited flights, bringing visitors back to the airport for recreational activities is more important than ever. Birdly® is uniquely positioned to provide an interactive experience that allows airports to enhance their presence as a destination and not just a place to pass through. This unique, immersive, virtual reality simulator allows guests of all ages to fulfil the ultimate dream of soaring and diving freely through the skies on the wings of a bird.
The combination of a stunning design, Swiss precision manufacturing and intense, emotional flights allows Birdly® to stand out in the crowded, commercial environment. With travellers worldwide more eager than ever to make the most of each minute of their trips, airports must find ways to provide new, exciting, unique experiences to capitalise on these desires. Birdly®, hatched initially as a research project through the Zurich University of the Arts, allows visitors to experience the world in an entirely new and emotional way. It draws people in with the offer of flying and brings them back repeatedly because of the sensations they feel while embodying the soul of an eagle.
“People come to airports already planning to fly, so giving them the chance to fly in this way, is a dream experience that they had never expected,” says Max Rheiner, CEO Birdly®.
Birdly® couples the physical experience of flying with tourism and educational content. Visitors can choose to fly over the city they are currently in or visit the destination they are heading to for a unique preview of the streets they will be walking in a few hours’ time. To escape even further, they can go back in time to discover the dinosaurs, or dive under water into the fragile beauty of a coral reef.
In a world where airports are increasingly more than just a waypoint on a great journey, the Birdly® experience fits in seamlessly in any airport environment. Already active at the airports in both Hannover and Vienna, Birdly® has proven capable of captivating audiences as an integral part of the overall travel experience and as a stand-alone attraction that brings more localised visitors back again and again.
As CEO Rheiner points out: “We’ve seen an incredible response to Birdly® with our initial airport launches. Visitors never expect they’ll have the chance to do more than fly in the cramped confines of the airplane, but when they climb aboard Birdly® they experience a few moments of total freedom.”
If the goal of an airport is to give travellers the best possible experience of flight, there is no better way to enhance that experience than by reaching into one of the most deeply held human desires so that they can fly like a bird. Giving visitors the chance to enjoy Birdly® is an incredible way to enhance their experience and get closer to this goal.
