Shahab launched near Tehran

Tehran based aviation and pilot
training company, PAAviation www.paaviation.com has
recently opened the world's first Muslim skydiving centre. Called
"Shahab Skydiving",  the facility plays host to male and female skydiving
instructors and students.  Up until now, Muslim women have been prevented from
skydiving, largely due to Islamic regulations. Only 5 months ago, Pakistan's
first female tourism minister Nilofar Bakhtiar, was forced to resign after
participating in a tandem skydive with a male instructor.         (visit: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,274355,00.html for the
full story) 

As the vast majority of the
worlds skydiving instructors are male, Muslim women have had virtually no
opportunity to take part in one of the worlds most thrilling and
adventurous sports. Muslim women are prohibited from skydiving with male
instructors, due to the fact that their bodies would be intimately positioned
whilst harnessed together. As a new means of allowing Muslim women to
participate, the Iranian aviation company, PAAviation have specifically
recruited female skydiving instructors, uniquely allowing Muslim women, for the
first time to experience the thrill and exhilaration of
tandem skydiving. Needless to say, this breaks
the mould of the stereotypical and repressed view of Iranian and Muslim women,
held by some in the west.  In addressing the current debate on women's rights in
Iran, Zahra Ebrahimi, a leading
figure in Iranian women's sports, cites the example of skydiving as "A
vital source of empowerment." In a telephone interview, Commercial Director of
PAAviation, Dean Ghobadi, stated: "We are very proud to have opened an outlet
for female thrill seekers and adventure enthusiasts here in
Iran, I am sure most will agree that
sports such as skydiving have been a long time in coming for Muslim
women." 

The company is using a recently
purchased British made, Britten-Norman Islander aircraft for their skydiving
operations. The "Islander" is widely regarded as one of the safest and most
reliable aircraft in use for skydiving, worldwide.

The skydiving club is located at
Payam Airport, just 60km from Tehran City Centre. The instructors at the club are British and
European and all hold full USPA and BPA international
skydiving certifications.

For further
information, visit: www.paaviation.com