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Tag: British Airways i360

British Airways i360 reviews

What are people saying about the British Airways i360 in Brighton?

The world’s tallest moving observation tower, the British Airways i360, opened in Brighton on Thursday 4 August. Here’s an early snapshot of opinion.

Teresa Machan, writing in The Telegraph, says:

“At three times the height of Nelson’s column, many who look up at the i360 from the seafront promenade comment that it is too high to contemplate riding in. “I must admit I had the jitters,” said one rider, today. “But because the glass curves away you really don’t notice how high you are.”

Or that you’re moving. Our launch was so smooth that it is was only once the beach began dropping away that I realised the pod (an oblate ellipsoid to give it its technical name) was in motion and that our gentle, gradual ascent had begun. This was not a thrill ride – even in today’s inclement gusts. The tower’s cantilever design, we were told, is designed to withstand typical Brighton wind conditions.

First at our feet is Hove’s promenade with its grand, sea-facing Regency squares, the 1884 seafront bandstand and the rectangular expanse of Hove Lawns, where Victorian ladies would parade in bouffant skirts. Brighton’s rooftops trip cheek-by-jowl up the city’s gently sloping landscape towards the great iron canopy of the railway station.

The relatively low-rise domed turrets of Brighton Royal Pavilion are just about visible, and I was pleased to spot unmistakable red-pink façade of the Lion and Lobster pub – another popular Brighton institution.

At around 50 metres the rolling hinterland of the South Downs National Park begins to unfold. I could see as far as Worthing Pier to the west, and east, to Beachy Head. At 162 metres the chalky cliff is exactly the same height as the i360.

On a good day you can apparently see St Boniface Down on the Isle of Wight. “And there’s a white building in the distance that we think is Butlin’s Bognor Regis,” said someone from the i360 team. Binoculars may come in handy.”

See the full article at: www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/england/brighton/articles/brighton-i360-vertical-pier-lift-off-launch/

British Airways i360 looking west
The view looking west. Photo (c) BAi360

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Oliver Wainwright, writing in The Guardian, says:

“From the top – on a clear day – you can apparently see the tip of the Isle of Wight, 40 miles away. No such luck on my visit. On the hazy afternoon of my 20-minute “flight”, the sparkling white cliffs of the Seven Sisters were a dull grey smudge in the distance, while the rolling Sussex Downs dissolved into a blur. But even on a dull day, the city unfolds beneath you in surprising ways. Brighton’s steeply sloping topography becomes ever more apparent as you glide upwards, as does the pattern of buttery Regency terraces, framing squares that open on to the waterfront to capitalise on views of the sea. The merry hotchpotch of the seafront’s bandstands, paddling pools and beach volleyball courts then slowly flattens out into a train-set landscape, until the Palace Pier is reduced to nothing but a spindly finger of twinkling lights.

The experience is similar to a tethered hot-air balloon ride, the kind that used to entertain Victorian crowds at the nearby St Ann’s Well Gardens in Hove – except you’re trapped inside a glass capsule, cut off from the sounds and smells of the seaside. With the view partly distorted by ripples and reflections in the double-curved glazing (which might prove more of an issue at night, when the accompanying cocktail bar glows into action), it can make you wish for the simpler age of balloons and baskets, and for a gulp of fresh air. To opponents, it may still be the iSore, a Chernobyl chimney despoiling the beach. It could have been designed to feel less like a corporate entertainment lounge on a stick. But by night, when it glows like a sword plunging down from the heavens, it is hard to resist.”

See the full article at: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/aug/02/brighton-i360-review-marks-barfield-british-airways

British Airways i360 looking east
The view looking east. Photo (c) BA1360

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Kate Whiting, from the Press Association, writing for the BT website, says:

“Besides soaking up the views, it’s mesmerising to watch the honeycomb-patterned steel cans that form the world’s most slender tower slip through the centre of the pod.”

See her full article at: http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/travel/city-breaks/brighton-i360-review-we-visited-the-worlds-tallest-moving-observation-tower-by-the-sea-11364076875411

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Martin Slater, National Sales Manager with Greatdays Travel Group, says:

I felt privileged to be invited to the pre-launch of the British Airways i360 on Tuesday 3 August. This is simply a combination of exceptional  engineering technology and architectural design. Located on Brighton beach, where the once famous Victorian pier stood, it was then said you can experience walking on water. With the British Airways i360 you have the opportunity to experience walking on air! The pod will elevate up to 200 people to a height of 138 metres (453 feet), while simultaneously providing an observation platform giving passengers unimpeded views and the freedom to stroll around or sit whilst taking in the unfolding views. The attraction is ideal for the leisure, incentive or educational market.

For more information about the British Airways i360 in Brighton, go to www.britishairwaysi360.com

 

British Airways i360 opens on 4 August

The British Airways i360 in Brighton, the world’s tallest moving observation tower, will open on Thursday 4 August.

The operator of the attraction, which is located on Brighton’s sea front, says that visitors will “glide up the tower in a fully enclosed futuristic glass viewing pod to admire the unfolding views across Brighton and the south coast”.

During the day, ‘flights’ will take 20 minutes (from leaving the ground to returning to it). After 6pm the pod transforms into the Nyetimber Sky Bar serving the finest drinks from the region. These evening flights will take 30 minutes.

Pre-booked group visitors will benefit from priority entry and discounts and/or group free places. The attraction says that a visit will last around an hour. This will include a ‘pre-ride experience’, the flight itself, and time in the shop and exhibition.

Ticket prices for groups of 15 or more are £13.50 for adults, £11.25 for Seniors aged 60 and over, and £6.75 for children aged 4 to 15 inclusive. Children under 4 travel free.

Tour operators planning to take regular groups may be eligible for a travel trade account. For more information email groups@britishairwaysi360.com

Conceived and designed by Marks Barfield Architects, creators of the London Eye, the attraction opens almost exactly two years to the day from the moment the project team put the first spade in the ground to begin construction.

Architects David Marks and Julia Barfield say: “After two years of intense groundbreaking architectural and engineering work on Brighton beach, we are delighted to announce the forthcoming completion of British Airways i360 with tickets now on sale to the public for flights from Thursday 4 August. The team behind the British Airways i360 has gone beyond the call of duty and created a new landmark they should all be proud of.

“Built at the landward end of Brighton’s historic West Pier, the British Airways i360 is a modern day vertical pier which invites visitors to ‘walk on air’ and gain a new perspective on the city, just as the West Pier invited Victorian society to ‘walk on water’.

“The glass viewing pod, ten times the size of a London Eye capsule and capable of carrying up to 200 passengers, will slowly rise up a slender steel tower to a height of 450 feet to provide passengers with stunning views of Brighton and Hove and a beautiful panorama of the south coast and English Channel.”

Lynne Embleton, British Airways director of strategy and MD Gatwick, says: “The British Airways i360 is now ready for take-off and we are looking forward to welcoming visitors on board. Brighton is home to thousands of our customers and colleagues and we fly to more than 65 destinations across the globe from Gatwick so we are delighted to be involved in this exciting attraction that we know UK and international visitors will love.”

Tickets can be booked at www.britishairwaysi360.com or by calling 03337 720 360 (a £2 surcharge will be added to each booking made by telephone). Bookings can also be made at the British Airways i360 ticket office from Thursday 4 August.

www.britishairwaysi360.com

The British Airways i360 in Brighton opens on 4 August

i360 to open in July

The British Airways i360 in Brighton is understood to be on track to open in time for the school summer holidays in July.

The passenger ‘pod’ is now in place and testing it up and down the tower will begin in the next few weeks.

The British Airways i360, which has attracted considerable interest from coach tour operators and group travel organisers, was due to start testing in March. However, it is understood that the delay has been caused by what the attraction says has been a re-ordering of the schedule of activity on the site.

Talking to The Argus newspaper, Eleanor Harris, the i360’s chief executive, says: “British Airways i360 is on track to open this summer, in time for the school summer holidays. Tickets will go on sale next month when we announce our exact opening date. Over the next month we will also see the pod start to move and the lights will be switched on, which we are very excited about.”

More information at www.britishairwaysi360.com

British Airways i360
A webcam showing live pictures of the base of the tower can be seen at http://britishairwaysi360.com/latest-news/webcam/