Eleanor Harris: An Eye On British Airways i360

Cutting edge design and engineering take brightons visit appeal to new heights

This week I’m on holiday with my young family and today we took a cable car up to 1,600 metres high in the French Alps. We enjoyed spectacular views of snow capped mountains touching the sky and the towns in the valleys below. My kids loved the excitement of the ride on the cable car, and we all loved the views; “wow” they said!
My trip today had many parallels with the i360 experience: On the i360 you will journey up into the sky in a “vertical cable car” and enjoy breathtaking views of natural beauty (the Downs, chalk cliffs and sea). Even the cable car we rode on today was made by Poma, the company building the i360.
The architects of the i360 and London Eye (David Marks and Julia Barfield) have described the vision for the i360 as, “there is a universal desire to get up high to enjoy a good view” and I couldn’t agree more.
Whenever I go to a new city, my first port of call as a tourist is always to go to the place to see the best views. Some of my personal favourites have been the cable car up Table Mountain in Cape Town or cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janiero.
Like the i360 these experiences combine a ride to heights with views of natural beauty, the sea and a city.

Closer to home, in six years of working at the London Eye and around 500 rides, I never got tired of the views or the thrill of riding up so high. My favourite time was to go up in the evenings for a champagne ride, and this was the inspiration for the i360 Sky Bar. My most memorable ride was a Concorde fly past to celebrate the Golden Jubilee.
My kids also love the Spinnaker, especially the glass floor, and the Emirates cable car between the O2 and Royal Docks.
We believe Brighton too has wonderful views to be discovered. On a clear day from the i360 you will be able to see 26 miles from Bexhill to Chichester. I cannot wait to experience it!
Twitter: @TheBrightoni360 @Eleanor_Harris
Facebook: Brighton-i360, Pinterest: Brightoni360