On the 28th June the new Emirates Air line cable car opened doors for passengers. Situated just next to the new Olympic village it is one of the new technogical miracles that the Olympic games brought to London. The cable car reaches a height of about 100m and connects the two banks of the Thames. It has a capacity of 2500 passengers per hour, but it looks like thereare just few enthusiasts who wants to try the ride over the river as the cabins are currently almost empty. In comparison to the London Eye which offers a similar service, but the queue could take an hour. The reason for the limited popularity of the cable car is its position, it is far away from the city centre and a lot of tourists and London residents don’t bother going all the way to North Greenwich just for a short picturesque flight over the Thames, even though the cable car is fully integrated with the Transport of London plan and the trip from Tower Hill by DLR to Royal Victoria is not a hustle at all. In addition for the humble amount of £3.20 (with an Oyster card/a Day pass) or £4.30 one can enjoy a 5-10 minute ride in one direction with a beautiful view over the O2 arena and Canary Wharf.
In addition, the project caused some discontent among Londeners as John Biggs explained for BBC that the whole cable car costs 60m pounds and the Emirates airlines are giving only 36m. Is it really a present for London or a smart marketing trick?
The brand of the airlines is all over the place and it will probably be a centre of attention during the Olympic games.
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