Flying high

UNDER THE RADAR/DAVID BYRNES, SKY DIVE IRELAND INTERVIEW:WHAT STARTED out as a hobby soon became a career choice for David Byrnes, co-owner of Sky Dive Ireland.

From his first parachute jump in his teenage years, Byrnes was hooked. "I started skydiving at 16 years old while I was still at school. I got my first instructor qualification when I was 17 and then I got my qualification to maintain the parachute equipment when I was 17 years old as well - I suppose two fairly big responsibilities for a 17-year-old!"

Byrnes admits that everything took almost second place to parachute jumping, and his chosen career path soon followed the same route.

"I didn't really focus very much on school; my interests were in this activity, in my sport. I pursued it as a sport for eight years and then developed it into my profession. But while I was doing that, I was also studying IT and got a certificate in aeronautic engineering,"he says.

Together with Darren O'Connor, he took over Skydive Ireland, which was operating out of regional airports around Ireland, in January 2007. However, the duo decided that to operate the service they wanted to offer their customers, the only option was to have their own private airfield.

Last year's move to Erinagh Aerodrome in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, has given Skydive Ireland more flexibility. "We have fewer restrictions than were imposed at regional airports, because you have scheduled and non-scheduled flights coming in,"explains Byrnes.

"At our own airfield, we have more flexibility over teaching people to become solo skydivers, whereas when we were at regional airports, we mainly only provided tandem jumps. When you are out on your private strip in the middle of the countryside, you have more area for student parachutists to go off target and land in another field.

"In an airport, if they go off target while learning on their own they could have a collision with a jet."

The firm has taken a novel approach to ensuring it has a steady stream of customers, by getting involved with clubs at the local university. "We've modelled it off the UK. We've set up university skydiving clubs and then affiliate them to us, which provides a very strong stream of customers and also young people who have the time and commitment to give to an activity like skydiving, meaning there is a high chance of retention."

Not only does it provide the firm with a steady source of revenue, but it also opens up the possibility that some of the club jumpers will take up the chance to get their instructor qualification.

"Even though it's early stages, we already have about five or six who are approaching it with that amount of commitment," says Byrnes.

"Financially speaking it's very good because the university and students union provide a great amount of funding towards very active and up-and-coming clubs. The university club - Skydive UL is its official name - has become the second largest club in the University of Limerick."

Byrnes's IT background has benefited the skydiving business. The company uses its website (www.skydiveireland.ie), which was designed and developed in-house, to sell skydive packages and vouchers. Byrnes also studied marketing. "In the end all the skills came together and they all get used for what we do here."

Jumpers can also have their skydive videoed, with the firm offering a media package for an extra fee.

Skydive Ireland is intent on expanding further. It has recently invested about €500,000 in a new aircraft, a GA8 Airvan, that will increase its capacity considerably.

"We'll continue to run it alongside our other aircraft, which will give us higher capacity and also some redundancy so that if one goes down, we can continue to operate with the other one, while the aircraft is being maintained."

With this expansion comes investment in more equipment for student parachutists, more pilots and more instructors, all of which have been put in place. Skydive Ireland was also the first skydiving centre in Ireland to be approved and authorised by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

About 1,300 jumps were completed last year; this year, Byrnes and O'Connor are aiming for 6,000. It's not all about the business; Skydive Ireland has a charitable side to it too. The firm helped to raise more than €100,000 for charity last year and hopes to build on that figure further this year to more than €150,000.

Name: David Byrnes

Age: 29

Background: Originally from Limerick, he now lives in Tipperary.

Family: Single

Most likes to: Skydive. He took his first jump at 16 and hasn't looked back since. Anything adventurous and challenging.

Most admires: Entrepreneurs, in particular Michael O'Leary. "I admire his no-nonsense attitude. He doesn't dress it up for the press."

"I didn't really focus very much on school; my interests were in this activity, in my sport. I pursued it as a sport for eight years and then developed it into my profession.