The Ain Dubai Ferris wheel has long been defunct. (Source: SCMP)
Two years ago, the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) built the Ain Dubai Ferris wheel (Dubai Eye), which is said to be the largest in the world, to attract tourists here.
However, a few months after its opening, the wheel mysteriously ceased operations. The official Ain Dubai website simply stated that the wheel would be “closed until further notice.”
The Ain Dubai Ferris wheel was initially scheduled to close for a month, but its reopening has since been postponed indefinitely.
Those behind the project, which opened in 2021, declined to answer questions.
At the restaurants, shops and cafes built around the attraction, doubts remain as to whether the structure, which took six years to build, will ever reopen.
“Last year, we were promised that the Ferris wheel would be back in operation in the winter. But now the answer is still the following winter,” said a sales representative who declined to be named. “But we are not sure… whether it will actually be back in operation.”
Ain Dubai is located on Bluewaters, an artificial island in Dubai designed as a shopping, residential and entertainment complex. For over a year, the entrance to the tourist attraction has remained closed, with the ticket booths deserted. Only a small number of tourists visit the site out of curiosity.
In a city full of record-breaking landmarks, Ain Dubai is no exception. Standing 250 metres tall, with each base the length of 15 buses, the Ferris wheel is almost twice as tall as the iconic London Eye, making it the world’s largest.
Ain Dubai has 48 passenger cabins, all air-conditioned. They can carry around 1,750 passengers at a time. Tickets to ride the Ferris wheel cost around 100 dirhams (VND 650,000) for standard class and 4,700 dirhams (VND 30.4 million) for luxury class, in a private cabin.
This giant Ferris wheel was built with more steel than the Eiffel Tower in France. It has become a prominent feature on the list of Dubai's top tourist attractions, which include the Dubai Frame and the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.
It is unfortunate that the special Ain Dubai Ferris wheel cannot be operational anytime soon and as the Dubai government remains silent on this, public interest will only increase in the coming time.
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