Ain Dubai (; ) is a giant

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...

located at Bluewaters Island in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. It is the world's tallest observation wheel, at a height of , since October 2021. Ain Dubai is taller than the previous world's tallest observation wheel, the

High Roller A high roller, also referred to as a whale or cheetah, is a gambler who consistently wagers large amounts of money. High rollers often receive lavish " comps" from casinos to entice them onto the gambling floors, such as free private jet transfe ...

, which opened in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in March 2014. The wheel is designed to carry up to 1,750 passengers in 48 cabins and to provide views of

Dubai Marina Dubai Marina (), also known as Marsa Dubai, is a district in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is built around an artificially constructed canal along a stretch of the Persian Gulf shoreline. In 2018 it had a population of 55,052. The district ...

and landmarks such as

Burj Al Arab The Jumeirah Burj Al Arab (, ), commonly known as Burj Al Arab, is a luxury hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Developed and managed by Jumeirah, it is one of the tallest hotels in the world, although 39% of its total height is made up of ...

Palm Jumeirah The Palm Jumeirah is an archipelago of artificial islands on the Persian Gulf in Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is part of a larger series of developments called the Palm Islands, including Palm Jebel Ali and the Dubai Islands, ...

, and

Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration) is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding the antenna, but inc ...

. It is powered by hydraulic motors through 64 rubber tyre friction rollers of 310/80R22.5 size located at the ends of the boarding platform.

History

Ain Dubai was previously named the Dubai Eye or Dubai-I. It was announced in February 2013.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd. (HDEC; ) is a major construction company in South Korea. The company was founded by Chung Ju-yung in 1947 as the Hyundai Civil Works Company and was a major component of the Hyundai Group. Hyundai ...

and Starneth Engineering were appointed as the primary design and construction contractors, together with KCI, the engineers who designed and engineered the complete wheel structure including the installation engineering. Construction began in May 2015, anticipating completion in early to mid-2019. Further delays pushed the target opening to 20 October 2020, in order to coincide with

Expo 2020 Expo 2020 () was a World Expo hosted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. Originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Ara ...

, but this itself was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The wheel opened a year later on 21 October 2021. Ain Dubai closed to the public in March 2022 for "periodic enhancements". In April 2023, the operators announced that the Ain Dubai would remain "closed indefinitely", without any further explanation. The

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotation, rotating wheel and axle, wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In ...

of the wheel was at that time surrounded by scaffolding, and the German TÜV Association, which was involved in the Ain's construction, withdrew its safety certification for the structure. However, since July 2023 the LED displays on the structure continued to be illuminated at night and are visible from long distances. In April 2024, Ain Dubai was seen to be in operation, however it was still closed to the public. Ain Dubai officially reopened to visitors on 26 December 2024.

References

External links

* {{Ferris wheel 2020 establishments in the United Arab Emirates Amusement rides introduced in 2020 Ferris wheels Buildings and structures under construction in Dubai Tourist attractions in Dubai Dubai Marina

History

See also

References

External links