Henry Van Asch Says AJ Hackett SkyRide Will Take Auckland Visitors 192 Metres Up The Sky Tower

AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand is turning Auckland's Sky Tower into the centre of a new founder-led travel story, with SkyRide due to open on 26 June. TravelDailyNews Asia-Pacific reported on 15 June that the company will launch what it describes as the world's highest lift-and-descent ride, taking participants 192 metres up the outside of the tower before a high-speed controlled descent back to ground level.

The founder angle is clear because Henry van Asch, co-founder and managing director of AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand, is fronting the company's innovation story. TravelDailyNews quoted van Asch saying SkyRide is a world-first for the height it reaches and continues the company's mission to redefine vertical adventure experiences. AJ Hackett's own article also quotes van Asch describing the ride as further cementing the company as a global leader in gravity-defying experiences.

The numbers are part of the appeal. TravelDailyNews says the ascent takes place at about six metres per second, faster than the tower's internal lifts, and that riders reach the observation deck in roughly 90 seconds before descending. The same report says the ride uses a new multi-mode system designed in-house by AJ Hackett Bungy's engineering and design team with specialist engineers. It also says the system enables an upgrade to SkyJump.

For Auckland, this is a Travel story as much as a business story. The Sky Tower is already one of the city's most recognisable visitor landmarks. SkyJump and SkyWalk have long given tourists and locals a way to turn the building into an experience rather than just a viewpoint. SkyRide adds another reason to package the central city around adrenaline tourism, hotel stays, restaurants, harbour visits and city-centre transport.

Safety and certification are central to the rollout. TravelDailyNews reported the new system would undergo WorkSafe New Zealand certification and inspection under the Amusement Device Regulations before opening to the public. That detail should not be treated as background. A ride built around height and speed depends on trust as much as thrill. Visitors are not only buying fear; they are buying the confidence that the operator has engineered and checked the experience properly.

The company context supports the founder-led angle. Apple's small-business profile of AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand describes it as the world's first commercial bungy jumping operator, in business since 1988, and identifies Henry van Asch as managing director and co-founder. That history is why a Sky Tower launch is more than a novelty. It extends a long New Zealand adventure-tourism brand into a dense urban setting. The move also gives Auckland a chance to claim a stronger place in a category often associated more heavily with Queenstown.

There is also a useful local question: will Aucklanders treat the ride as something for tourists, or as a city experience they try themselves? The company's own Sky Tower page already lists Auckland SkyRide beside SkyWalk and SkyJump. If locals buy in, the attraction could strengthen off-peak central-city activity. If it remains mostly visitor-focused, it still gives Auckland another exportable image: the city skyline as an adventure platform, with a founder-led New Zealand operator selling the view.