Fancy crossing the river by air? Well, you will be able to do just that as of next summer. The Emirates Air Line will be UK's very first urban cable car and will cut the River Thames along a cable line linking the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Docks.

These two points are important nodes in the Olympic Games: the former is right next to the ExCel Centre, which will play host to Olympic martial arts and weightlifting events and the latter near the O2, where the Olympic artistic gymnastics and basketball will take place. The aerial lift comes as an initiative to increase transport connections to and from Olympic Games venues during summer 2012, but also seeks to boost investment and business in the area and the city in the long term.

The cable car line will be 0.62 miles long and 164 feet high; magnificent views will thus surely complement the ride, which should take about 6 minutes. Up to 2,500 passengers will be able to commute every hour in each direction, with a journey taking place every 30 seconds. An interactive exhibit just opened at the London Transport Museum to get a glimpse and taste of how the experience will be inside a cabin for the curious ones.

Part of Transport for London, the cable car will be connected to the rest of the transport system either by direct interchange or by stopping very near the tube station at North Greenwich, the London River Services at the North Greenwich Pier and the Docklands Light Railway at the Royal Docks and oyster cards will be valid to board the cable car.

Given that more than half of the project's costs - estimated at £60 million - will be funded by the Dubai-based Emirates airline, you should expect some heavy advertising for the carrier around the city. Indeed, for the next 10 years, the aerial lift will be named after the carrier, just as the Arsenal stadium is, the two ends of the cable line will be baptized the Emirates Greenwich Peninsula and the Emirates Royal Docks and the line will appear on tube maps along with Emirates' logo.

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