• The Emirates Air Line is successfully supporting regeneration and increasing footfall in Greenwich and Newham
• Since opening customer satisfaction has remained high at 93 out of 100 • The Emirates Air Line will begin a ticketing partnership with The O2 in August

Today marks the first anniversary of passenger services on the UK’s first urban cable car, the Emirates Air Line, and the Mayor says it continues to play a key role in supporting growth and regeneration in east London.

Since opening, the Emirates Air Line, connecting Greenwich and the Royal Docks, has flown over 2.4 million passengers across the Thames and customer satisfaction remains consistently high. Today Transport for London (TfL) confirmed that it is working with AEG Europe, the owners of The O2, to make Emirates Air Line boarding passes available on The O2 website from August. That means passengers will be able to buy e-tickets for a flight on the Emirates Air Line at the same time as they book their visit to The O2, or their Thames Clipper travel.

The Emirates Air Line was built to support current and future regeneration in east London and the balance between leisure users and regular users will change as this takes place. The popularity amongst leisure users means the Emirates Air Line is covering its costs while encouraging people to visit Greenwich and the Royal Docks. Passengers surveyed since the scheme opened have given the Emirates Air Line an average score of 93 out of 100, for both overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend the service to others.

Regeneration of the area is already well underway as illustrated this month when the Mayor of London announced a £1.5bn deal with the Silvertown Partnership to transform Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks into an innovative new quarter that will be able to accommodate more than 1,500 new homes, restaurants, cafes, galleries and leisure facilities both on and off the water, making it a thriving destination for Londoners and visitors to live, work and enjoy. Work on the first phase of the site is expected to begin in 2014/15.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “The Emirates Air Line is doing exactly what it set out to do and supporting regeneration of an area with huge potential to provide new jobs and homes. The £1.5bn deal to transform the Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks is a superb illustration of how providing new transport links like the cable car can be the perfect spur for economic growth.

“As the customer satisfaction scores show, Londoners and visitors from around the world thoroughly enjoy using this innovative transport experience and the new and exciting Emirates Aviation Experience opening in July next to the Greenwich terminal will be yet another fantastic reason to visit this rapidly developing area of London.”

Greenwich will soon be welcoming the arrival of the Emirates Aviation Experience, just next to the Emirates Greenwich Peninsula terminal, and the Emirates Royal Docks terminal will see the world’s oldest and only complete steamship – The SS Robin moored close by and open to visitors in 2014. Other exciting developments coming to the area include a new 452 room hotel next to The O2 with residential apartments in 2015. All of this development will directly benefit from the convenient and direct river crossing the Emirates Air Line provides.

TfL’s Head of the Emirates Air Line, Danny Price, said: “The Emirates Air Line is a great success – not only has it reached over 2.4 million passenger journeys already it is also covering costs and generating revenue for local businesses.

“We are delighted to be working closely with The O2, the partnership is another move towards promoting the Greenwich Peninsula as a destination location and provides customers with a convenient way to plan and book their visit. We will continue to work with the new and existing visitor attractions in the neighbouring areas to help to stimulate growth.”

The O2’s Director of Transport Strategy, Geoff Symonds, said: “The Emirates Air Line has been a resounding success on the Greenwich Peninsula and has contributed to record footfall at The O2 over the last year. The O2 welcomes the opportunity to work closely with TfL to promote the Greenwich Peninsula as a destination and provide a seamless ticketing solution for our customers. We hope this
partnership will introduce new customers to the Emirates Air Line and provide another great experience for customers coming to The O2.”

To celebrate the anniversary the Emirates Air Line has teamed up with rapper Lethal Bizzle, magician Magical Bones, rock band Don Broco and singer Passenger to offer MetroTravel readers the chance to win exclusive performances from the acts in private cabins 90 metres above the River Thames.