TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

The rich heritage and colourful legacy of classic cars is once again on display in Downtown Dubai. The second Downtown Dubai Classic Car Show will be celebrated over four days this year following overwhelming participation from the public and classic car enthusiasts last year.

Andrew Flintoff and his family have set up home in Dubai. Here, he offers a guide to the city and reveals why it's the ideal location for a cricketer. And you should definitely visit the new Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. As it happens I'm scared of heights – when I went up the Empire State Building I nearly passed out – but here I survived a trip up to the observation deck.

Burj Khalifia, the world’s tallest tower, will reopen on Feb. 14 following the closure of its 124th- floor observation deck, according to ticket sellers for the Dubai attraction. Ambulances were sent to the tower on Feb. 6 to treat 12 people who had been stranded in a stalled elevator and “dozens” of others who had been trapped on the observation platform, according to Fahad Al Zarouni, deputy director of operations at Dubai’s Center for Ambulance Services. None were hospitalized.

Burj Khalifa, which has experienced several lightning strikes, boasts one of the most advanced lightning prevention systems in the world, said Param Singh, regional marketing manager at Manav Enterprises, the company which installed the lightning protection system in the tower.

At The Top, the world’s highest observation deck housed on the 124th floor of Burj Khalifa, has been temporarily closed for “maintenance and upgrade,” it was announced on Sunday. “Due to unexpected high traffic, the observation deck experience at the Burj Khalifa, At The Top, has been temporarily closed for maintenance and upgrade. Technical issues with the power supply are being worked on by the main and sub-contractors and the public will be informed upon completion,” a Burj Khalifa spokesperson said in a statement.

The Burj Khalifa’s observation deck has been closed to the public until further notice, little more than one month after it opened, because of problems with the power supply. In a statement, a spokesman for the world’s tallest tower said that yesterday afternoon’s sudden closure was for maintenance and upgrades, made necessary because of the high number of visitors over the past month.

The Burj Khalifa observation deck has been temporarily closed for "maintenance and upgrade". A spokesperson for Burj Khalifa, said: "Due to unexpected high traffic, the observation deck experience at the Burj Khalifa, At the Top, has been temporarily closed for maintenance and upgrade.

With branches in 7 cities — including Mexico City, Tokyo, Jakarta, Lisbon and Koshien — KidZania’s latest outlet, which opened in the Dubai Mall on January 10, is the first in the Middle East, and helps children acquire financial skills in an interactive world. Walking down its make-believe streets, Will Edwards, the governor of KidZania Dubai, marvels at the excitement of this land’s “new citizens”.

Hundreds of athletes from around the world have competed in the annual race to the top of the Empire State Building -- running up 86 flights of stairs. There are a total of 1,576 steps and because the stairwells are only wide enough for two people there can be quite a bit of pushing and shoving. But if you think this looks tough, imagine what skyscrapper running would be like in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa building has almost twice as many floors.

Last month's gala launch of the Burj Khalifa in Downtown Dubai was a fitting tribute to the skill and professionalism of the assembled event production specialists, lead by Dubai-based outfit Prisme International and French fireworks contractor Groupe F. While it's hard not to imagine the scale of the launch event had the 828 metre tower opened at the height of Dubai's boom years (think Atlantis times 10), the fireworks presentation itself differed little to initial designs drawn up by Groupe F's artistic director and CEO Christophe Berthonneau more than two years ago.