Air is the brain child of the designer John Wardley; he wanted to
allow people to experience true flight and though he knew it would not
be an easy task, many years later and after hours of planning,
meetings and testing Air was finally born, a ride which actually put
riders into the prone position and let them fly through the sky.
After the Beast was removed from Alton Towers in 1997 it would only
be a matter of years before another attraction was placed on the
site. In 2000 permission was granted for a new roller coaster and
throughout 2001 the site was prepared and steel was erected. The
ride is manufactured by Swiss company B&M, who also produced the
famous Nemesis and Oblivion. Other companies such as Consign worked
on the computer systems and the Tussauds studio worked on the clever
theming, which is very different to the rest of the area.
Instead of having a strong theme like Nemesis has, Air is quite
simple. It is a situated in the calm lower end of Forbidden Valley
which has been themed as an oasis, with trees, green grass and
modern looking buildings. The track is coloured turquoise and the
main emphasis of the ride is placed on the flying experience itself.
