A respect for the longer view and, of course, an ingrained sense of fair play explained the strand of reserved judgment in my recent coverage of the Emirates Air Line's unimpressive passenger stats. Sadly, one month on, it seems clear that the plummet in the numbers taking the "flight" across the Thames between the Greenwich peninsula and the Royal Docks cannot be explained as a blip.
Transport for London's figures show that during the week ending September 15, 2012 the service was used 49,402 times and that for the week ending September 14, 2013 the Air Line crossing was made only 23,466 times. Collapses of comparable sizes are recorded for all but one of the ensuing weeks until the one ending on October 19, in which the numbers plunged to 23,029 compared with 42,463 during the near-equivalent seven-day period last year. Transport for London has said that measures are in place to increase usage. Watch this air space.
