Tickets are now on sale for Brighton’s latest tourist attraction, the world’s tallest moving observation tower. The British Airways i360 opens to the public on 4 August, in advance of the popular Brighton Pride celebrations, offering visitors a chance to take in the views of the coastline from a height of 138m.

The glass viewing pod will glide up and down the tower, transporting up to 200 visitors at a time. “Flights” will last 20 minutes during the day and 30 minutes after 6pm, when the pod bar opens. Ticket prices start from £13.50 for adults and £6.75 for children (under 4s free).

Designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the team behind the London Eye, the tower has been two years in the making. As well as holding the record for the tallest moving observation tower, with an overall height of 162m, it also holds the record for the world’s most slender tower, with a diameter of 3.9 metres at its widest point.

As with any major addition to an urban skyline, the tower has not been without its critics. Some residents campaigned against its construction, with Valeria Paynter of the Save Hove action group describing it as a “bonkers, outsize flagpole with a ring around it”.

The architects, David Marks and Julia Barfield, prefer to describe it as a “modern day vertical pier, which invites visitors to ‘walk on air’ and gain a new perspective on the city, just as the West Pier invited Victorian society to ‘walk on water’.”