What is it?
Airkix is basically indoor skydiving, brilliant for those who would like to experience flight but without actually jumping out of a plane. It's also a cheaper alternative.
Airkix have two centres in the UK, one in Milton Keynes and one in Manchester. I recently visited the Manchester Airkix and therefore that will be the focus of my review.

Airkix is basically a vertical wind tunnel. Air is circulated through the tunnel and into the flight chamber. Manchester's flight chamber is bigger and more powerful than the one in Milton Keynes, reaching a maximum speed of 180mph. Flying at Airkix Manchester is apparently equivalent to skydiving from 12 thousand feet.
Anybody over the age of 4 can fly at Airkix as long as they are ion good health, have no shoulder or back problems, are not pregnant and are in good health (no heart conditions, etc). There is however a weight restriction, so those over 18 stone cannot fly.

Prices
Airkix has to bands of pricing, Off Peak or any time. Off peak is Monday to Friday 11 am to 4pm, except during school holidays when off peak changes to 9am to 10am. To fly on a weekend or Bank Holiday you will pay the anytime price.
There are then many different packages to choose from.
These are:
Early Bird kix Start - which is only available at Milton Keynes
Kix Start - 2 flights Off Peak £41.99 Anytime £46.99
Air Born - 4 flights Off Peak £67.99 Anytime £72.99
Learn To Fly- 10 flights Off Peak £159.99 Anytime £179.99
Family Flight - 10 flights (can be shared between 5 people) Off Peak £159.99 Anytime £179.99
Each package includes a pre-flight breifing, covers the cost of the instructor and you also get a personal certificate.
After your first time, if you return within 3 months you are entitled to cheaper flights.
Manchester is slightly more expensive than Milton Keynes, I assume this because it's bigger and has more power.
Gift vouchers are also available.

Booking
Flights can be booked online at www.airkix.com or by telephone 08453316549.

Location
Manchester Airkix is located next to Chill Factor E near the Trafford Centre. Take junction 10 off the M60 and it is signposted from there.

Other info
Airkix provide the jump suits, helmets, goggles and ear plugs at no extra cost. each flight lasts for one minute.
There is a cafe bar situated in the viewing gallery selling beer, spft drinks, tea, coffee and snacks. Yet flyers are not allowed to consume any alcohol before a flight.
Flyers must arrive one hour before their flight time, lace up shoes must me worn and all flyers must complete a statement of risk on arrival. Photographs and DVD of flights are available to buy afterwards.

My Experience
For my boyfriend's birthday last November his sister presented him with a box from buyagift.com. Inside was a voucher for indoor skydiving for two. It was valid until September 2011 and included a free DVD of the flight. He was going to redeem the voucher in January but if truth be told it's not really his scene so he just let it sit in the box. I however love getting a thrill, especially a cheap one and so after much nagging he finally booked it for Monday 22nd August.
We knew it was going to be a pain to get to as although he can drive, he doesn't own a car and I cannot drive at all. we hopped on the met from our home in Radcliffe, into Piccadilly Gardens and got the 250 to the Trafford Centre.
Now I love my boyfriend dearly but he has a habit of not checking the small print. So firstly he hadn't checked the location and wasn't sure where to get off the bus, we got off on the wrong side of the Trafford Centre and ended up having to walk for 20 minutes before we found it, he also hadn't read the rule about lace up footwear and there I was wearing my sandals. But most importantly he hadn't read the rule about having to be there an hour before. So 2 hours after setting off from home we had reached our destination and unable to fly.
The staff on the desk were quite helpful and informed us of our options, we could change to later in the day at no extra cost, but the only slot they had available was 9pm, this would mean hanging around for 9 hours or we could change it to another day at a cost. At first we chose the following Monday but as this was a bank holiday it would've cost us and extra £24, so we opted for the Friday at a cost of £10.
So Friday arrived and we managed to blag a lift of my mum and it only took us 20 minuted straight down the motorway.
Airkix has very ample parking so finding a space wasn't a problem.
We booked in and then were directed to some PC's to complete or statement of risk, this took about 2 minutes. We were then told that our instructor was called Chris and he would call us in at 5.15pm and we would fly at 6pm.
Excitement and apprehension were starting to build up inside me and I was busting for a wee, all in all I think I had about 3 wees while waiting for our class. This isn't helped by the fact you wait in viewing gallery and see everybody else flying and I didn't really like the idea of everyone watching me.
At 5.15pm we were called into the classroom by a god like creature, this was Chris our very handsome instructor. we watched a ten minute video on different hand signals, stances, etc. The Chris gave us a brief outline on what it feels like in the chamber and gave us some tips like, "don't open your mouth cos you'll look a fool".
There was about 8 other people in our class. We were told we would all get 2 goes each, 2 minutes of flying time altogether.
We were then taken out of another situated behind the flight chamber and given our equipment. There is no need for changing rooms as you put the jump suit on over your normal clothes. There are lockers available for bags, glasses, jewellery at the price of £1 but this is none refundable. I just gave my bag with all my stuff in it to the instructor who put it in the equipment room.
All the goggles were yellow except one pair of red ones, apparently whoever picks these goes first.
While I was waiting around for my turn I got more and more nervous and more aware of the people watching in the gallery, when it got to my turn I felt fine on entry but once in there I struggled a little. I wasn't very good at it. The idea is that you keep yourself in one position unless the instructor gives you the signal, I found this very hard and kept going down, and when I went down, instead of keeping my hands and arms where they were my natural reaction was defensive and put them out to protect myself even though I knew there was noway I could fall.
In the chamber itself, it's a very weird sensation, it's cold , it's very fast and takes a moment to catch your breath. It's not a bad sensation at all and despite being ultra crap at it I also found it exhilarating and very enjoyable. I also have to admit my boyfriend was much better than me.
Afterward Chris presented us with our certificates and proofs of the photos were sent to us via email the next day to see if we wished to purchase any of them.
watching the DVD was a little boring as it wasn't just us on it, it was all our class but they usually charge £14.99 for these but it was included with the gift.
I'm not sure how much is sister paid for this, she has admitted that at the time she bought it buyagift.com had a sale on, I've just looked on the site and it's now £98.

Overall
This could prove to be a bit of expensive hobby for some. I am glad I tried it but if it hadn't been a gift I would never have paid for this myself. It's something a bit a different and would be great for adrenalin junkies. I would highly recommend this to anybody who can afford to go. Despite the short flight times, it's very rare to get a buzz like it.