Sentosa's SkyHelix ride to open on 15 December ahead of schedule
The SkyHelix ride on Sentosa will open ahead of schedule on 15 December, said the Mount Faber Leisure Group in a press conference on Thursday (11 November).
The new attraction on Singapore's resort island had originally been slated to open early next year, but construction was completed earlier than planned.
The SkyHelix will be the highest open-air, panoramic ride in Singapore. Guests will dangle their feet in the air as they sit in a gondola that gently rotates and slowly rises 35 metres above ground level along a vertical helix-like structure, providing 360-degree views of Sentosa island and its surroundings. The ride is 12 minutes long.
Guests will be able to see the southern coast of the mainland around HarbourFront, as well as the Singapore Strait to the south of Sentosa.
Because of the site's natural elevation, the top of the SkyHelix will be 79 metres above sea level, making it one of the highest vantage points on Sentosa.
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Tickets for the SkyHelix are now available (book yours at their website here). An adult ticket costs S$18 and a child's ticket costs S$15. Each ticket will come with a choice of a beverage which you can bring onto the ride, or a special SkyHelix Sentosa souvenir.
Here are more photos and artist's impressions of SkyHelix:
Safety and sustainability
The SkyHelix Sentosa structure was designed and constructed by French company Aerophile, a leading expert on high-point attractions.
The gondola is powered by three electrical winches that are managed on-ground. Safety measures in place include an electronic safety mechanism to ensure guests are properly secured and emergency brakes. Guests must also meet a minimum height requirement of 1.05 metres to enjoy the ride.
An attraction host will accompany guests on the ride to ensure safety protocols are followed, while introducing the surrounding views and key landmarks.
Mount Faber Leisure Group, a subsidiary of Sentosa Development Corporation which manages the cable car attractions on Mount Faber and Sentosa, said SkyHelix is Sentosa's first carbon-neutral attraction, touting its energy-efficient design which utilises minimal electricity. Carbon neutrality describes a system that offsets its carbon emissions in order to achieve net-zero emissions.
When asked to clarify how the SkyHelix was carbon-neutral, Buhdy Bok, the group's managing director, said the ride had been designed to generate very low carbon emissions and that its carbon footprint for a whole year, during which it could serve 100,000 guests, would be equivalent to that of a flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.
"We will be carbon neutral, because the footprint is really very small. We will find mitigation methods in order to achieve carbon neutrality for this attraction," he added.
Favian Ooi, operations and asset development director, added that the company might look into employing solar energy to offset emissions from SkyHelix's electricity consumption.
Mount Faber Leisure Group is a member of the Sentosa Carbon Neutral Network, Singapore's first carbon neutrality-driven business alliance, which was established in September 2021. The SCNN is a public-private effort to achieve Sentosa's sustainability goals, including carbon neutrality by 2030.
