Flight attendant on top of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa goes viral [watch]

The largest airline and the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates have taken their latest advertising campaign to new heights – 828 metres above the ground to be exact.

Celebrating with a daring promo

According to Gulf Business, to mark the UAE’s removal from the UK’s red list and its addition to amber instead last week, the airline decided to celebrate with an innovative and daring promo.

In response, a 32-second clip shows Nicole Smith-Ludvik, a skydiver whose Instagram description quotes Helen Keller’s famous quip – “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” – dressed as an Emirates flight attendant standing at the top of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

In the promo, she sifts through a series of placards that read, “Moving the UAE to the UK Amber list has made us feel on top of the world. Fly Emirates. Fly Better.”

“This is, without a doubt, one of the most amazing and exciting stunts I’ve ever done,” she said on her Instagram page. “A big shout out to Emirates Airlines for your creative marketing idea! It was a pleasure being a part of the team.”

Real vs Fake

The shoot was carried out using a single drone with filming company Choppershoot, produced by Prime Productions AMG and TECS Event Services.

Initially, people were sceptical of whether Smith-Ludvik actually pulled off the stunt, or if it was all down to computer graphics, when Shane Manning owner and managing director at TECS Event Services said on his Instagram page, “Just to reiterate – this is very very real with @nicolesmithludvik being stood up there for hours. This human is an absolute rockstar.”

The tallest building in the world

“My anxiety…when the camera moved back,” said one Instagram user. “That’s a scary height,” said another.

Standing at over 828 meters high and with 160 storeys, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world. It also has the largest lighting display, with more than 100 000 m2 of LED screens.