UAE-UK travel: Emirates' celebration stunt on top of Burj Khalifa 'very, very real'

A death-defying video showing an Emirates ‘flight attendant’ on top of the Burj Khalifa is “very, very real”, its production team has said.

Dubai-based Emirates had put out the video on August 5, to celebrate the fact that the UAE had been taken off the UK’s red list.

It shows a woman dressed as the airline’s flight attendant, describing Emirates’ joy at the move. She holds placards, which highlight how moving the UAE to the UK amber list has made the airline feel “on top of the world”.

The video then zooms out to show that the attendant is standing on top of the world’s tallest building — the Burj Khalifa.

The flight attendant is, in fact, Nicole Smith-Ludvik, who describes herself as a “world traveller, skydiver, yoga instructor, hiker, adventurer”.

“This is, without a doubt, one of the most amazing and exciting stunts I've ever done,” the skydiver posted on Instagram, referring to the Burj Khalifa stunt.

TECS Event Services, which describes itself as specialists for “rigging, automation and performer flying for live events", described the stunt as “very, very real”.

“Being part of such a special project — not only for the fact that we were trusted to help bring this to life (yes, this is very very real), but also what it means for so so many families who have been separated from their families between here in Dubai and the UK. Definitely a project we’ll remember forever (sic),” it posted on Instagram.

Shane Manning, who was part of the team, also reiterated that that the stunt was real, with Nicole “being stood up there for hours”.

“This human is an absolute rockstar…and loves hard rock as much (if not more) as me,” he posted on Instagram.

Prime Productions AMG called Nicole the “bravest woman on the planet”.

“Thank you to the #emaar and #burjkhalifa ops, marketing and health and safety teams for their incredible support,” it posted on Instagram.

• UAE
• Dubai