Aon South Africa and Dinner in the Sky Flying High

Recently “imported” to South Africa from Belgium, Dinner in the Sky is a dining experience where table, chef, waiters and guests are suspended 50 meters in the air on a platform which is currently situated just opposite Montecasino in Fourways.

Ranked among the world's Top 10 most unusual restaurants by Forbes magazine, the platform is slowly hoisted high up into the air by a crane – offering you and your guests total privacy while enjoying this gastronomic experience coupled with spectacular views.

The crane is capable of lifting 90 tons, and the entire Dinner in the Sky concept weighs a maximum of five tons. The chairs themselves are shaped like racing car seats, fitted with a four-point safety harness and attached to the table with sturdy nuts and bolts and a steel safety cable. The equipment and crane are rigorously checked before each event, and the entire contraption has been built according to German TÜV certification norms, one of the toughest security certification in the world. Everything, from the seatbelts to the crane, was conceived with an obsessive attention to detail as far as security is concerned.

However, this does not ease the trepidation, or take away the thrill, for many. “I am not afraid of heights, but I definitely found it quite scary at first,” says Dani Ettridge of Aon South Africa, a leading global insurance broker and risk management company – the company which has provided insurance cover for the Dinner in the Sky concept.

“Although when you finally do get up there, and perhaps have a few sips of wine, it’s so easy to relax and enjoy the magnificent views,” she adds. “When we went up, it was the middle of rush hour traffic, but it was surprisingly quiet and peaceful up there. The whole experience gives you quite a buzz.”

The Dinner in the Sky concept has had much success internationally in countries such as Belgium and the UK, but is relatively new here in South Africa.

“Because of the uniqueness of this concept, it was not an easy risk to broke, with many insurers declining the opportunity,” says Ettridge. “Although it is highly unlikely that something would go wrong, and therefore a low incidence of loss – if there was just one incident, the loss for an insurance company could be large – which is why so many insurers steered clear.”

However, displaying a passion for developing unique insurance packages that cater for individual clients, Ettridge and the rest of the Aon South Africa team were able to secure cover for the Dinner in the Sky concept.

“We have many safety measures in place to ensure guests can enjoy their dinner in the sky without any worries,” says Dinner in the Sky Managing Director, Chad Doyle. “Securing insurance coverage for our concept is just one more safety measure.”