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World's biggest observation wheel to open in March

A tourist boat passes in front of the Singapore Flyer in Singapore on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP

Please, don't call this a Ferris wheel, officials stress.

"We don't use the F-word," says Florian Bollen, chairman of Singapore Flyer, a giant, slowly rotating observation wheel, which he said would be leagues apart from its old-fashioned little brother at the fairground.

At 165m, or 42 stories high, the Singapore Flyer will be the largest observation wheel in the world, Bollen said.

The project, still under construction, is tentatively expected to open in the city-state in March.

Bollen's Singapore-based company, Great Wheel Corp, is also building wheels in Beijing and Berlin, which will edge out the Singapore Flyer as the world's biggest when they begin turning in about two years, he said.

"It's a completely different generation of wheels by comparison to the old-style Ferris wheel," Bollen told reporters on Thursday.

He said that Britain's London Eye, which opened at the turn of the century and is 30m lower than Singapore's wheel, was the first of the new generation.

"It's a huge success story. It really has created something completely new, and that's why we thought building these wheels is a good thing," said Bollen, who came to his new venture from the financing of films.

Unlike cramped Ferris wheel carriages which hang in the open air, the Singapore Flyer and other large observation wheels feature fixed "capsules."

The Singapore Flyer's capsules -- about the size of a city bus -- are air conditioned and can carry up to 28 people. Passengers are free to walk around and will not feel movement or vibration, the company said.

"And when you're up on top of the wheel, you really have the feeling of being on top of the world," Bollen said.

"It's just a very slow, nice experience. It's all about the view," he said.

The Singapore Flyer will be located on the Singapore waterfront across from the Marina Bay Sands casino complex set to open in 2009, and near the pit area of a Formula One Grand Prix street race to be held for the first time next year.

Lacking natural attractions, the wealthy nation has embarked on a major campaign to spruce up its tourist appeal.

For S$29.50 (US$19.37), passengers on the Singapore Flyer will get a 360-degree view of up to 45km across the island republic and into neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia, the developers said.

Higher-priced tickets include food and drinks.

The project, worth about S$240 million, is a private venture backed mainly by German investors. But Bollen said it had received strong marketing and other support from the city-state's tourism board.

He declined to reveal the rent they are paying for the site. Bollen said his company was the only bidder for the project designed by Kisho Kurokawa Architects and Associates of Tokyo, along with Singapore's DP Architects.

The builders are Mitsubishi Corp and Takenaka Corp of Japan.

Each ride on the flyer will last about 37 minutes and while passengers wait for "takeoff," they can wander among two lower levels of shops, restaurants and a tropical rainforest.

The 28 capsules on the wheel will be able to move about 10 million people per year, Bollen said.
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