Cable car to give thrill seekers a breathtaking ride on thin air

Thrill seekers will get more than a bird's-eye view of Lantau from next month when the cable car ride introduces glass-bottomed cabins.

Twelve 'crystal cabins' will be ready to receive passengers from April 4. Tickets are priced about HK$50 more than regular admission, at HK$109 one way and HK$157 for a return journey. Adults riding the regular cabins currently pay HK$63 one way and HK$96 return.

'We were thinking about doing something to attract the younger crowd,' Morris Cheung Siu-wa, the cable car's managing director, said.

'The Big Buddha alone is not enough to draw young people to Ngong Ping.'

Each of the 12 cabins can accommodate up to 10 people, fewer than the 17-person maximum of the regular cabins, because of the heavier glass floor. The floor is more than 5cm thick and is made up of three layers of glass. Mr Cheung said the new cabins had been subjected to the same load tests as the regular cabins and were certified.

An empty cabin of the Ngong Ping 360 attraction fell to the ground during system checks in June 2007.