From October 17 to October 24, 2026, we’ll host the FAI World Skydiving Championships 2026 here at Skydive Arizona, welcoming teams as they compete for world titles. We’re proud to put Eloy at the center of international skydiving again, with our work starting well before the first competition load. We are already preparing to receive you!
What a World Championship Means
At a world championship, you get to see athletes represent their countries against the strongest competition the sport can assemble. National Airsport Control organizations enter their delegations, and competitors must hold valid FAI Sporting Licences. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), through its International Skydiving Commission (ISC), sets the sporting standards that govern the event. Those rules establish how judges evaluate performances and determine who earns a world title.
At the FAI World Skydiving Championships, we’ll see our sport take several forms. Formation Skydiving teams will build sequences together in freefall, while Artistic Events will challenge athletes to turn technical flying into a routine. Speed Skydiving competitors will chase the fastest measured descent. Down at our pond, canopy pilots will compete over a defined course, with a separate Freestyle championship showcasing maneuvers under parachute.
We love how these disciplines show us the different ways athletes can push the same sport. If you’re competing, this is your opportunity to put your training to the test against the world’s best. If you’re part of the skydiving community, you know it’s a week that shows the very best of our own.
Why the World Returns to Skydive Arizona
A championship of this scale needs an exceptional host. As hosts, we need enough aircraft capacity to sustain competition through repeated rounds, and a team that knows how to coordinate a demanding operation. That combination makes us one of the world’s leading venues for major skydiving events.
We’ve already put that capability to work. We hosted the 2022 World Parachuting Championships, and the FAI’s Formation Skydiving report recorded 350 competition team jumps in that discipline alone. This October, we’ll welcome the championships back, drawing on our experience of hosting them before.
Our nearly 90-acre facility gives us room to support you between jumps. You can pack indoors in climate-controlled space, and our on-site rigging loft is here when you need equipment support. At SkyVenture Arizona, you can train in the wind tunnel before competition, while our on-site lodging lets you base your team right here at the drop zone.
Our staff keeps everything working like clockwork in the air and on the ground. As our operations team explains in What It’s Like to Run a High-Volume Drop Zone, a change to one load can affect the aircraft behind it. Our manifest team works with our pilots and ground crew to adjust the sequence. We rely on that daily coordination as we prepare to host an international competition.
Preparing for the First Scored Jump
For 2026, we’ll use six identically configured Twin Otters, each carrying up to 23 jumpers. Matching aircraft setups give teams consistent exit arrangements as they move through their rounds.
That consistency extends to official practice. Formation Skydiving teams have the option of a training jump using the competition aircraft configuration and the same judging and scoring systems. That gives you a rehearsal and lets us take a jump all the way through to evaluation before the results count.
At our pond, we focus on the course itself. The Course Technical Director plans and maintains the layout to meet FAI specifications. For carved speed, that means a 70-meter course with electronic sensors to time the athlete’s run. The precision required of the canopy pilot starts with the precision of the setup.
Once the course is ready, our ground team rehearses too. FAI rules require a course-closing drill during official practice, with emergency medical personnel taking part. Officials practice the closure signal and a simulated ambulance call, then the FAI Controller approves the system. These rehearsals help us prepare together, with our ground team getting its practice alongside the athletes.
The Countdown Is On
Soon, teams will arrive in Eloy chasing a world title, and we’ll be here to welcome them. For us, hosting them again is a chance to put our experience behind one of the sport’s biggest occasions. If you’re following along, you’ll get to watch the next chapter of world championship skydiving unfold here.
Explore the disciplines coming to Eloy, and follow our official championship page for event information and bulletin updates. October’s competition is getting close. We can’t wait to welcome the world’s best back to our skies