In 2021, Emirates sent stuntwoman Nicole Smith-Ludvik atop the Burj Khalifa to announce to the world that they are open. That advertisement went viral. So they have now doubled down and sent her atop the Burj Khalifa again, but with an A380 giving her company. Watch on.

Here is the original advertisement.

When it was launched, most people thought it was a green screen shoot, which it was not indeed. Here is a behind the scene video for you.

Emirates just topped up the first advertisement with a new one they released over the weekend. The same stuntwoman, Nicole Smit-Ludvik, went back to the top of the Burj Khalifa, but this time around for an even more impressive take. As she held her signs, there was an A380 giving her company (apart from the helicopter from where they were filming!). The best part, this A380 was painted in the Dubai Expo 2020 livery, with her picture on the side.  Have a look!

 

This time, the stuntwoman is standing at the pinnacle of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar once again, holding up message boards with an invitation to visit the Expo 2020 Dubai on the iconic Emirates A380. She then gestures to her ‘friend’, the Emirates A380 wearing the Expo 2020 Dubai livery, which gracefully soars in the background as she stands firmly on the spire of the world’s tallest building. The ad also features dynamic aerial views of Dubai and its iconic skyline and culminates in a flypast over the impressive Al Wasl dome at the Expo 2020 Dubai site.

Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, said:

Now at the halfway mark of its six-month run, the excitement and momentum around Expo 2020 Dubai remain strong. Our latest campaign boldly carries the Expo message and invites people to come and experience what is truly the world’s greatest show. There is nowhere else right now that offers the raft of attractions, top-class entertainment and music, riveting sports, vibrant country and themed pavilions, a thriving culinary scene and much more – all in one place. Dubai and the Expo are already top attractions. Our aim is to give global travellers even more reasons to choose Emirates and Dubai for their upcoming winter and spring holidays.

While the ad looked like it was shot effortlessly, the whole project involved in-depth planning and meticulous execution involving stakeholders across Dubai’s aviation ecosystem, with a strong focus on safety at every juncture when conducting the low flying manoeuvres.

The carefully choreographed flypast involved the A380 flying at a low altitude of only 2,700 feet, the exact height of the Burj Khalifa. The aircraft also flew at a very low speed of 145 knots. To put that into perspective, the average cruising speed of an A380 is around 480 knots. The low speed ensured the aircraft could efficiently and continuously circle the Burj Khalifa and achieve a tight radius without drifting away. In total, the Emirates A380 circled the Burj Khalifa 11 times to get the proper selection of shots for the ad.

The aircraft also appeared as if it was flying very close to the stuntwoman as she was standing on the Burj when it was over half a mile away.

During the planning stages, Emirates pilots, Flight Operation teams, Air Traffic Controllers, helicopter pilots, drone operators and the filming teams, the Emirates marketing team, the Emaar team, regulatory teams as well as the UAE GCAA and DCAA worked closely to discuss and deliberate every detail and aspect of the mission, choreographing the flight plan, running risk assessments, accounting for air traffic, areas over flown, as well as gauging potential wind and weather conditions to secure the necessary approvals. Pilots also trained multiple times in the A380 flight simulator to ensure every visual reference point was covered and tested and every manoeuvre checked before the mission. The simulator visits also helped establish the way all stakeholders would communicate during the flypasts and filming to ensure everyone was operating in a safe environment.

In addition, the team closely liaised with Dubai ATC to ensure that all activity was protected by blocking the airspace through a Temporary Restricted Area during all of its holding patterns.

The filming and low flypasts were conducted on October 13 and 14, 2021, and the timings of the flights were scheduled outside of the peak departures window at Dubai International as a further measure to mitigate any risk.

Have a look at the behind the scenes video for this edition:

 

Bottomline

Emirates has topped off its original Burj Khalifa stunt, whereby a stuntwoman stood on top of the world’s tallest building, with an even better one, in the company of an A380 aircraft from the Emirates fleet joining her on the film this time around.

What do you make of this Emirates A380 Burj Khalifa promotional video?

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