The full history of AirTrack Factory – From blimps to sports innovator

De full history of AirTrack Factory

We often get the question what made our company the way it is today. How we ended up with such a big product range that pushes air-equipment to all different types of sports. Crazy enough, it all started with blimps…

From zappelins to sports innovator

Koenen air was founded in 2002 by Geert Koenen, an innovative entrepreneur with a long history in air-related equipment. He started his career in 1986. His business, Kokit made blimps with promotional banners attached to them, and flew these blimps at promotional events or festivals. This path led him to make more promotional inflatables, such as the arches for the Tour De France, floating cones for Red Bull water sports events or even an inflatable church in which people actually got married! Another of these products was the inflatable tumbling tracks we all know. This was the stitched version, resembling a bouncy castle. Koenen managed to grow his company and start his own production facility, but hunted by copy cats from the far east his inflatable empire started to look like a sinking ship.

The next step

In 2004, Koenen heard about a new fabric that was airtight, bouncy and incredibly strong. He immediately ordered a big roll and started experimenting. With his knowledge of inflatables, fabrics and materials it wasn’t long before the first AirTrack came out of his production facility. Right away the local elite gymnastics club showed their interest and started testing the new track. The verdict: it was amazing. With gymnastics being among the more traditional sports, equipment this innovative did not get launched into the market very often. Geert immediately knew he had something interesting on his hands and focussed all of his attention to his new company; AirTrack Factory.

With a little help from our friends

The AirTrack didn’t go unnoticed and its popularity began to rise. Clubs all over the world started asking for quotes and the new company started adding resellers all over the world. When social media star Damien Walters started to use the AirTrack and AirTrick in his videos, this popularity skyrocketed. The AirTrack Factory team expanded and knowledge started to build. Together with coaches and trainers, more new equipment was developed and the current AirTracks were perfected. The AirFloor made its introduction and soon after the AirRolls took their permanent place in the product range.

Go big and go home!

Then, in 2006, the head coach of our local gymnastics team asked if there would be a way to make a small version of the AirTrack, for his gymnasts to practise their skills at home. They were always tumbling around on grass or in their living rooms, risking injuries. When the AirFloor Home and Training Sets were born, the AirTrack Factory team knew right away that this was once again revolutionary. With social media on the rise during this same timeframe, the AirTrack Factory ambassador team was born. This group of gymnasts and cheerleaders from all over the world showcased this brand new way of training to their fans. Once more, the popularity of the AirTrack Factory brand grew exponentially.

The AirTrack Factory AirBag

Years of innovation followed, making more equipment that could be used in schools and gyms. The company grew and constantly expanded its production capacity. In Europe, AirTrack Factory started a new office in Germany and was now the market leader for inflatable sports equipment for many different disciplines.

In 2018, with trampoline parks rising in popularity, AirTrack Factory decided to divide its brand into two divisions: ‘AirTrack Factory Sports’ and ‘AirTrack Factory Attractions’. For this new division, the knowledge of AirTrack Factory was used to create brand new safe and fun obstacles, tracks and more importantly, the AirTrack Factory AirBag was born.
This new piece of equipment was a combination of years of expertise in sports related manufacturing combined. Every detail was thought through and we went beyond safety laws to refine the new product to its fullest potential.
The quality, combined with competitive pricing did not go unnoticed by the market and soon some of the biggest park franchises chose AirTrack Factory as their partner to replace all their old and dusty foam pits with this new and safe alternative.

The next big thing?

This knowledge was then translated back into the sports market where a smaller AirBag was developed, especially for our gymnasts and other athletes. As in all our equipment, the bags were tailored to its users, with carefully thought out safety lines, soft sheets and a pressure adjustment system so both back and upright landings would be possible!

As of today, AirTrack Factory is still innovating daily. Listening to its users and searching for new applications.
Do you have an idea that could once more revolutionize the way we think about sports? We’d love to hear it and develop it together with you!