TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

It has been reported that following an elevator break down which left visitors trapped over 120 stories above the land and forced it to shut, on Sunday, the observation deck of the world’s tallest tower reopened in Dubai. It is said that there were dozens of visitors lined up to buy tickets for the 124 floor of the half-mile-high Burj Khalifa. The deck was closed in February.

The observation deck of the Burj Khalifa has reopened after a six week hiatus – though officials remain tight-lipped about the exact nature of the fault that closed the attraction.

Nevertheless, the folk at Emaar Properties in Dubai are doing their best to improve the Burj Khalifa's energy diet. Today, they announced that the building's hot-water system had gone solar.

The Burj Khalifa observation deck could soon drop to the position of world's fourth highest, according to statistics received by Construction Week from Chicago-based world skyscraper authority, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Emaar contends that it offers “the world's highest observation deck with an outdoor terrace”.

It costs twice as much to get into the Burj Khalifa’s observation deck, despite it being only the second highest in the world, as it does to enter the world’s highest viewing deck in the Shanghai World Financial Centre in China. Online tickets for 'At The Top' on the Burj Khalifa cost a minimum of US $27.2 (AED100) and go up to $109 for fast track viewings, while tickets to the top-most observatory deck in the world cost a mere $14.6 (CNY100).

At 2717 feet it towers above the competition—it's more than two and a half times the size of the Chrysler tower, and while the previous top five highest buildings were all within a couple of hundred feet of each other, the 160-story Burj Khalifa beats the old world-record-holder, the Taipei 101, by some 900 feet. For size-conscious architects, the gauntlet hasn't been thrown. It has been launched into space and threatens to blot out the sun.

The Burj Khalifa remains closed to the public, after ‘maintenance’ issues forced its closure on February 7. This is bad news for the countless Dubai residents and tourists who bought tickets, and who now face the annoyance of obtaining a refund, or rebooking at a later date.

As Playmrn Balgoev lined up the world’s tallest tower in his camera’s viewfinder, he wondered what Dubai looked like from the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa. Unfortunately, the 27-year-old tourist from Bulgaria will leave the emirate without finding out.

A Dubai resident has built a replica of the Burj Khalifa out of 160,000 phone cards. Manoj Khira spent over Dh110,000 over the last six months reconstructing the world's tallest building.

Almost four weeks after its sudden closure on February 6, the observation deck at the world's tallest tower is yet to reopen. While staff at the booking counter at the Burj Khalifa were seen telling guests on March 1 that At the Top on the 124th floor would be reopened within a week's time, an official statement from the tower management maintained that it continued to be shut down for maintenance.