Review: Emirates airline cable car – Riding the Emirates airline

Affiliate links in this post will be clearly marked with a *. Clicking one of these links means I earn a discount or receive payment.

At the beginning of 2018 I set myself a few goals, to be a little bit braver! One of those goals, that made it on to my 2018 bucket list, was to ride the Emirates airline cable car. I’m sure to some people this doesn’t seem like a big deal, at all, but I’m really scared of heights!

Since my daughter was born in 2016 I have wanted to do more, try more and enjoy life more. This was just one of the small things that I wanted to achieve this year and I managed it! Today I’m sharing my Emirates airline cable car review with you, and my thoughts as someone who is scared of heights!

We rode on the Emirates airline…

When we arrived there was a small queue, but it only took around 10 minutes to get to the ticket window. While in the queue we were able to see the prices for Emirates cable car. It seemed a little steep to me, with adults paying just over £10, at £10.70, and children paying £6.20.

For this price, we would receive a return trip, an in-flight discovery film, inflight guide and free entry to the Emirates Aviation Experience. My Father-In-Law treated us and we were able to get discounted tickets because we had a mix of paper travelcards and Oyster cards with us.

This brought the price down to £8.40 per adult and £5.00 per child.

Once we had our ticket we went into another small queue, to get into a lift, which took us up to board the Emirates airline cable car. By this point I was beginning to regret my decision a little…! Just a little! Then I saw this sign:

It hadn’t occurred to me that we might have to share our Emirates airline cable car with other passengers, and I was feeling particularly nervous by this point. However, the cable cars arrived, moving around the track continuously, and we boarded.

It doesn’t take long to board, just a few seconds, and the fact that the cable cars stay moving isn’t a big deal at all actually. It’s just like when you ride the London Eye and it helps to keep the whole thing moving and avoid delays. I feel it is worth mentioning that the Emirates airline does occasionally stop completely – and I didn’t know this before we travelled. 

When people with specific needs, such as those with a wheelchair, need to board they may stop the Emirates airline cable car, which obviously stops all of the cars. This is a little bit scary if you’re right up at the highest height, as we were, but there was an announcement after a few seconds to let us know why we stopped.

Take a look inside a cable car

The doorway was wide enough to fit Daisy’s pushchair in, just about! At this point, Daisy was asleep and didn’t have any clue what was happening.

Then we were off! Within around one minute we were already at quite a height. I was actually feeling a little calmer. The Emirates airline cable car travels quite smoothly on the cable. When you stop it doesn’t just jolt, it happens in a fairly smooth manner.

The only movement that was a little bit nerve-wracking was when we reached the middle. Also, seeing the stairs that run all the way up there, and thinking of someone having to climb up that ladder to work was quite something!

The views across London from our Emirates airline cable car

The views across London are fantastic, even on a cloudy day.

At this point, Daisy woke up and told us that she would like to go swimming. In the river. She wasn’t phased by being many metres above the ground. Daisy did fall over in the cable car in a groove and hurt her foot though!

My Emirate airline cable car review

Overall I have to say it was much better than I was expecting. I was scared at the beginning. I was also looking forward to it being over by the end. However, it was much more enjoyable than I was expecting.

I didn’t enjoy us stopping, twice, to let someone on, and let them get off again. I do love that the Emirates airline cable car is accessible to people in wheelchairs. It really is a fantastic experience.

We took a return trip on the Emirates airline. When we made it halfway to the station we just stayed seated in the cable car. This then returned us back to the other side. My legs were a little like jelly afterwards but I also really enjoyed seeing the different areas of London. I think it is a pretty fun mode of transport!

The journey time for Emirates airline is approximately five minutes each way. If the airline stops to let passengers on this will add on a little more time. We did a return trip in approximately 12 minutes, including stopping time.

Give it a go!

Overall I think this is a fun thing to do when you’re in London. It is a novel way to travel over the river too! There were lots of shops and amenities near both sides.

The return trip was a fun way to see London from a different view and not spend lots of time on it. The fare was a little bit pricey but the travelcard discount was a nice bonus.

After our journey, we did visit the Emirates Aviation Experience. This was included free with our ticket. We had a look around and learned a little about the Emirates airline. This part wasn’t particularly interesting to me but my husband enjoyed it. As did my Father-in-law.

Check out my rather shaky video!

If you enjoyed this post I’d love it if you could pin it on Pinterest!