The vertical wind tunnel that let El Pasoans feel the rush of free-fall without ever boarding a plane has gone quiet for good. iFLY El Paso, the indoor skydiving facility at 430 Vin Rambla Drive in West El Paso, has permanently closed after seven years in the Montecillo district, ending a run that began with a splashy 2019 opening and had already survived a pandemic shutdown and a corporate takeover.
The closure was announced in a Facebook post from iFLY, as reported by KTSM 9 News. In the post, the company said the impact of its seven years in El Paso would continue wherever its customers' next flights took them, and thanked the El Paso community, adding that it had been its privilege to fly with the city. iFLY opened to the public on April 2, 2019, after breaking ground the year before with a community topping-off ceremony, according to 93.1 KISS FM.
A Wind Tunnel Built for More Than Thrill Rides
The facility's 14-foot vertical wind tunnel used a recirculating cushion of air to simulate the free-fall sensation of real skydiving without an airplane, letting flyers as young as three take a turn, per KTSM's reporting and details from Kupi.com. Over the years, the venue hosted birthday parties, private and corporate get-togethers, and social gatherings, according to the same Facebook announcement. It also built deeper ties to West Texas classrooms and families, offering hands-on K-12 STEM field trips and an All Abilities Night for people with physical and cognitive special needs, according to KVIA.
iFLY El Paso sat inside the Montecillo master-planned development, a commercial and dining corridor that also includes Topgolf, Escapology, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, according to the Montecillo Directory. The location's history was not without turbulence even before this closure. The facility briefly shut down starting in March 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions before reopening that July, per 93.1 KISS FM, and it faced a separate multi-month operational halt years later tied to a municipal dispute.
A City Tax Deal Fell Apart Before Corporate Took Over
In January 2025, the City of El Paso terminated a Section 380 economic development agreement with Flyzone LLC, the facility's operator at the time, which had provided the business more than $160,000 in sales tax rebates. The termination followed a dispute over a contested property appraisal. Following that pause, iFLY El Paso was refurbished and reopened in March 2025 under direct corporate management, with Austin-based iFLY CEO Matthew Ryan and municipal officials on hand for the ribbon-cutting.
That corporate intervention wasn't enough to keep the location open long-term. The El Paso shutdown lines up with a broader review of iFLY's national facility portfolio, which also led the company to permanently close its flagship Mission Valley venue in San Diego on July 31, 2026, a move driven by rising operating costs and shifting consumer discretionary spending, according to SanDiegoVille.
What's Left for Borderland Thrill-Seekers
iFLY's parent company, iFLY Holdings, was originally founded in 1999 as SkyVenture in Orlando and is now headquartered in Austin, operating or franchising more than 100 vertical wind tunnel facilities in 20 countries, according to the company's Wikipedia entry. With the El Paso location gone, the Borderland is left without any indoor skydiving option, leaving outdoor operator Sun City Skydive as the region's primary full-service skydiving provider for anyone still chasing that free-fall feeling.
