Singapore Flyer to reopen today

The Singapore Flyer will resume operations today, more than two months after it suspended its service due to a technical issue.

In a statement yesterday, a spokesman for the Flyer said that "the necessary safety checks and tests have been carried out to the satisfaction of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA)".

"We have also obtained the necessary approvals from the relevant authorities to resume flight operations," she said.

"Safety is Singapore Flyer's first and utmost priority - we assure all our customers and partners that rigorous tests have been conducted to ensure that the Singapore Flyer is safe for everyone to enjoy."

The Flyer had stopped its operations on the morning of Jan 25.

Sixty-one passengers were on board when a "technical issue" arose, and they were "brought to ground safely", the Flyer said then.

The Sunday Times understands that the glitch did not affect the observation wheel or any of its 28 capsules structurally. Instead, it was related to the mechanism at the base which allows the wheel to rotate.

A spokesman for the BCA had said last month that it had suspended the operations in the interest of public safety and called for an independent specialist professional engineer to investigate.

The suspension of the Flyer's operations had caused unhappiness among some potential customers who expressed their disappointment on the Flyer's Facebook page.

The closure also hurt site tenants, as visitor numbers dropped.

In a Facebook post yesterday, the Flyer apologised for the inconvenience caused.

Visitors may buy tickets online at singaporeflyer.com or in person at its ticketing counter, which opens from 8am to 10pm daily.

The Flyer, which is 165m tall and has a diameter of 150m, was officially launched in 2008.

The spokesman for the attraction said it looked forward to welcoming visitors again.

Lydia Lam

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on April 01, 2018, with the headline Singapore Flyer to reopen today. Subscribe