Guide · 9 grounds · 13 operators · their own rules
You fly lying down, head first.
And the weight limit is stricter than for a paraglider.
A tandem hang glider is the other way to fly without an engine: a rigid wing instead of a fabric canopy, the passenger lying prone beside the pilot, faster and quieter than a paraglider and with a much stricter weight rule. In the mountains you launch on foot – four to ten running steps down a slope and you are airborne; in Florida and Arizona, which have no mountains to speak of, an ultralight tows you up from a field and lets go. Below: the limits of thirteen operators on nine grounds word for word, the cheapest bookable flight on each, and what the German and Swiss accident reports say about a sport with few pilots and fewer tandem flights.
Operators' own limits on 9 grounds
The weight limit is the hard rule, and it is lower than you expect. A tandem hang glider carries two people on one frame, and the pilot has to run it off a slope: 85 kg in Tirol and for one Interlaken operator, 90 kg at Lake Garda and Lanzarote, 95 kg at Hang Gliding Interlaken, 100 kg at SkyTrek in Queenstown – where the same company takes 120 kg on a paraglider. Several drop the limit in autumn or winter, when the wind is weaker or the launch snowy: SkyTrek to 90 kg, Interlaken to 85 kg. Towed and powered flights are more generous: 220–225 lb (100–102 kg) in Florida, 230 lb in Arizona, 240 lb on Oahu's powered trike.
Age is almost no obstacle. Garda Flying Paradise has flown a three-year-old, SkyTrek, Hang Gliding Interlaken and fly together take children from four, with a parent's consent under 16 or 18; Paragliding Interlaken starts at 8, Sonora Wings at 14, and Windsports in Los Angeles alone asks for 18. What you need is legs: at a mountain launch you run four to ten steps beside the pilot – Garda Flying Paradise puts it as “be able to run for 10 paces” – which is why aerotow from a field, where you are towed up lying on a cart, suits those who cannot run.
| Ground | Stop | Weight | Age | Also |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queenstown | Tandem paragliding & hang gliding · Coronet Peak | max. 100 kg, 90 kg in autumn (SkyTrek) | 4–90; under 18 with a parent's permission | foot launch from Coronet Peak, 10–20 minutes; paragliding takes up to 120 kg; Glide Queenstown flies hang gliders only up to 80 kg (70 kg in April) |
| Interlaken | Hang gliding | 85–95 kg depending on the operator; 85 kg in snowy winter | from 4 (Hang Gliding Interlaken, under 16 with consent) or 8 (Paragliding Interlaken, Interlaken Activities) | foot launch from Beatenberg, 1,060–1,585 m; 10–20 minutes; CHF 230–260; Swiss tandem licence |
| Central Florida | Hang gliding towed up from a field | under 225 lb (102 kg) at Wallaby Ranch; 220 lb (100 kg) at Paradise Airsports | not published – Wallaby Ranch flies “people of all ages” | aerotow behind an ultralight to about 2,000 ft, around 15 minutes; Paradise Airsports sells 2,500, 3,500 or 5,280 ft |
| Los Angeles & Catalina | Hang gliding off Kagel Mountain | not published | 18+ | mountain launch from 3,500-foot Kagel Mountain above Sylmar, 10–20 minutes; $350 including GoPro footage |
| Phoenix & the Sonoran Desert | Aerotow hang gliding at Maricopa | 80–230 lb (36–104 kg) | 14–90 flown | aerotow to 2,000 or 3,000 ft over the desert; November to March only; $169 / $249 |
| Lake Garda & the Dolomites | Hang gliding from Monte Pizzocolo | up to 90 kg | 3–94 flown | you must be able to run ten paces; launch 1,200 m above the lake, landing on wheels; all year, €180 |
| Tyrol & the Zugspitze | Hang gliding in the Stubai valley | max. 85 kg | 4–99 | foot launch from the Kreuzjoch (2,136 m); one of two tandem hang gliding operators in Tirol; about €220 via voucher sites, plus the lift |
| Canary Islands: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura & Gran Canaria | Hang gliding off the Famara cliffs | max. 91 kg – over 90 kg ask first | not published | foot launch from Famara, Mala, El Cuchillo or the Mirador del Río depending on the wind |
| Oahu | Powered hang gliding on the North Shore | 80–240 lb (36–109 kg), proportionate to height | no limit – flown 9 to 93 | powered trike from Dillingham Airfield, not free flight; 20, 30 or 60 minutes; wait 12–24 h after scuba diving |
Cheapest bookable offer per ground, as retrieved Sept 29, 2026
A tandem flight costs €175–260 in Europe – €175 on Lanzarote, €180 at Lake Garda, around €220 plus the lift in the Stubai valley, CHF 230–260 in Interlaken – and $170–350 in the United States: $169 in Arizona, $195 at Wallaby Ranch, $350 off Kagel Mountain. In Florida the price rises with the tow height, from $199 to 2,500 ft to $350 for a mile. Queenstown's SkyTrek charges NZ$369. A powered trike flight on Oahu runs $199 for 20 minutes to $599 for an hour. Photo and video packages cost $40–50 or CHF 40 extra at most operators. Most operators sell direct; the table lists the cheapest bookable flight where there is one.
| Ground | Offer | From | Reviews | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canary Islands: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura & Gran Canaria | Lanzarote: tandem hang gliding flight | €175 | ★ 4.0 · 5 | Book → |
| Queenstown | Queenstown: tandem hang gliding experience | $210.89 | ★ 5.0 · 30 | Book → |
| Oahu | Oahu: powered hang gliding on the North Shore (Viator) | $270 | ★ 4.8 · 10 | Book → |
| Interlaken | Interlaken: tandem hang gliding flight over Alps and lakes | €276.19 | ★ 5.0 · 2 | Book → |
| Central Florida | Hang gliding towed up from a field | on site | – | Sold direct |
| Los Angeles & Catalina | Hang gliding off Kagel Mountain | on site | – | Sold direct |
| Phoenix & the Sonoran Desert | Aerotow hang gliding at Maricopa | on site | – | Sold direct |
| Lake Garda & the Dolomites | Hang gliding from Monte Pizzocolo | on site | – | Sold direct |
| Tyrol & the Zugspitze | Hang gliding in the Stubai valley | on site | – | Sold direct |
Hang gliding is a small sport, and its accident data are small too. The German association DHV, which counts accidents of German pilots at home and abroad, recorded 14 hang gliding accidents in 2024, two of them fatal – and both deaths happened at launch: one pilot had not hooked into the glider, the other had open leg straps. In 2023 there were 21 accidents and three deaths. The DHV report mentions no tandem accident. For comparison, the far bigger paragliding scene recorded 385 accidents and incidents and ten deaths in the same year; its 18 tandem accidents seriously injured nine passengers and killed none, and the most common cause was a passenger who stopped running at launch. Switzerland's association counted two hang gliding deaths among its pilots in 2025 up to October, against thirteen on paragliders.
No association publishes deaths per flight, so there is no honest risk figure. What the numbers show is where the danger sits: at launch and landing, with checks and procedure, which is exactly what a tandem pilot is trained for. Tandem flying needs its own licence everywhere: the DHV's tandem rating requires two years on a full licence and 200 flights, Switzerland's commercial Biplace licence a minimum age of 20 and special passenger insurance, and in the United States a two-seat hang glider may only fly under the FAA exemption held by the national association – formally as a training flight, with a tandem instructor at the controls.
14hang gliding accidents · German pilots 2024
Two fatal, ten with serious injuries. Both deaths happened at launch: one pilot was not hooked in, the other had open leg straps. No tandem accident is mentioned. 2023: 21 accidents, three fatal.
Source: DHV, Unfallanalyse Drachen 2024
18tandem paragliding accidents · DHV 2024
The comparison: nine passengers and four pilots seriously injured, none killed; seven accidents at launch, eight at landing. Most common causes: a passenger who stopped running at launch (6) and a stall before landing (5). The DHV lists no separate tandem hang gliding accidents.
4721the FAA exemption behind every US tandem flight
Two-seat hang gliders and paragliders may fly in the United States only under this exemption held by the USHPA – “for training purposes only”, with a tandem instructor on board, and the passenger must be told the glider is not FAA-certified.
Source: USHPA, FAA Exemption 4721
Usually 85–100 kg for flights launched from a mountain: 85 kg in Tirol, 90 kg at Lake Garda and on Lanzarote, 85–95 kg in Interlaken, 100 kg at SkyTrek in Queenstown (90 kg in autumn). Towed and powered flights allow more: 220–225 lb (100–102 kg) in Florida, 230 lb in Arizona, 240 lb on Oahu's powered trike. Paragliders generally take more weight than hang gliders.
Very young is possible: Garda Flying Paradise has flown a three-year-old, SkyTrek, Hang Gliding Interlaken and fly together in Tirol take children from four with parental consent. Paragliding Interlaken starts at 8, Sonora Wings in Arizona at 14. Windsports in Los Angeles asks for 18.
€175–260 in Europe (Lanzarote €175, Lake Garda €180, Tirol about €220 plus lift, Interlaken CHF 230–260), $169–350 in the United States (Arizona $169, Wallaby Ranch in Florida $195, Los Angeles $350), NZ$369 in Queenstown. Photos and video usually cost $40–50 extra.
German pilots had 14 hang gliding accidents in 2024, two fatal – both at launch, caused by a pilot not hooked in and open leg straps. No tandem accident was reported. There is no published death rate per flight. Tandem pilots need a separate licence in every country, and the risk concentrates at launch and landing.
A hang glider has a rigid frame and you fly lying prone beside the pilot; a paraglider is a fabric wing and you sit in a harness below it. Hang gliders fly faster and glide further, but they are heavier to run off a slope, which is why their passenger weight limits are lower – SkyTrek in Queenstown takes 120 kg on a paraglider and 100 kg on a hang glider.
At a mountain launch, yes – four to ten steps down a slope beside the pilot; Garda Flying Paradise asks only that you can run ten paces. In Florida and Arizona the glider is towed up by an ultralight from a field, so no running is needed; Oahu's powered trike takes off from an airfield.
No. On Oahu, and at Lake Tahoe, the “hang gliding” on offer is a trike: a hang glider wing with a small engine and a seat, taking off from an airfield. It is a sightseeing flight rather than free flight, with higher weight limits (up to 240 lb on Oahu).