NZONE Skydive founder Lindsay Williams in the early days | NZONE Skydive founder Lindsay Williams takes fellow skydiver
Annette McGee for a tandem skydive in 1995
New Zealand’s first commercial tandem skydive operation is celebrating a milestone 30 years of operation this month.
Three decades ago NZONE Skydive took to the skies in Queenstown, the home of adventure, thanks to the incredible vision
of founders Robynne and Lindsay Williams.
Over the years its grown to become the world’s leading tandem skydive operation, giving more than 350,000 passengers to
date the thrill of a lifetime, and with more to come.
Starting with just three staff members at its base in a paddock near Queenstown in October 1990, it grew year-on-year to
become a world-renowned, multi-awarded adventure tourism operation.
Today it also operates Skydive Wanaka (the second-largest skydive company in New Zealand operating for 25 years) and
Skydive Southern Alps. The company employed close to 200 staff in pre-COVID times and completed 60% of all tandem
skydives in New Zealand.
Meeting the COVID challenge head on, NZONE Skydive is committed to keeping the doors open and retaining as many staff as
possible.
“With a legacy of 30 years of operations under our belt as one of Queenstown’s pioneering adventure tourism companies
we’re in a battle to survive,” says Skydive Queenstown General Manager Clark Scott.
“We’re celebrating our very special birthday with staff and customers, and over this summer and beyond we’ll continue to
offer outstanding experiences to our domestic visitors and hopefully, in the near future, visitors from overseas.
“To all our customers, staff and key trade partners, we’d like to say a very heartfelt ‘Thank You’ for 30 years of
incredible support. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
NZONE Skydive offers guests tandem skydives from 9000ft to 15000ft with up to 60 seconds freefall at speeds of 200
km/hour above some of the world’s most stunning scenery.