The world’s longest, fastest and tallest roller coaster is a step closer: Six Flags ride that will plummet down a 525ft drop and reach 155mph now in ‘design phase’

• The ride, Falcon’s Flight, is due to open at Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia
• It will cover almost 2.5 miles of track and feature a drop into a 524ft-deep valley 
• A ride will last three minutes and the train can take up to 20 riders at a time 

Excitement is building at pace for the Falcon’s Flight, set to become the world’s longest, fastest and tallest roller coaster – as the design process for the attraction is now underway.

The ride will be the main attraction at Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudia Arabia, a ‘one-of-a-kind theme park’ that’s due to open in 2023 inside a resort called Qiddiya.

The coaster will cover almost 2.5 miles (four kilometres) of track, hit a top speed of 155mph (250kph) and feature a ‘vertical cliff dive manoeuvre into a 160m-deep (524ft) valley using magnetic motor acceleration’.

Excitement is building at pace for the Falcon’s Flight, set to become the world’s longest, fastest and tallest roller coaster – as the design process for the attraction is now underway. Pictured is a rendering of the attraction 

The coaster will cover almost 2.5 miles (four kilometres) of track, hit a top speed of 155mph (250kph) and feature a ‘vertical cliff dive manoeuvre into a 160m-deep (524ft) valley using magnetic motor acceleration’

Qiddiya’s CEO, Philippe Gas, said: ‘Roller coaster fans around the world have been eagerly anticipating this ride since it was announced as there is nothing quite like it anywhere else’ 

A ride on it will last three minutes with up to 20 passengers at a time able to ‘experience the exhilaration of three electromagnetic propulsion launch systems as well as panoramic views of Six Flags Qiddiya and the Resort Core’.

In addition, the roller coaster will also feature a ‘parabolic airtime hill allowing a weightlessness airtime experience’.

In 2019, when plans to build the Falcon’s Flight were released, a video rendering was released showing what thrillseekers can expect on the ride.

The clip shows the coaster’s carriages climbing colossal hills and plummeting down spectacular drops, with a speedometer popping up at regular intervals to show the extreme speeds being reached.

A video rendering was previously released showing what thrillseekers can expect on the ride. The clip shows the carriages of the coaster climbing colossal hills and plummeting down spectacular drops

A ride on the Falcon’s Flight will last three minutes with up to 20 passengers at a time able to ‘experience the exhilaration of three electromagnetic propulsion launch systems as well as panoramic views of Six Flags Qiddiya’ 

The ride will be the main attraction at Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudia Arabia, a ‘one-of-a-kind theme park’ that’s due to open in 2023

Qiddiya’s CEO, Philippe Gas, said: ‘Roller coaster fans around the world have been eagerly anticipating this ride since it was announced as there is nothing quite like it anywhere else.

‘Now we are in the design stage with the experts at Intamin and the engineering team at Six Flags, the excitement is building!

‘Falcon’s Flight will dominate the skyline at Qiddiya. It will weave all the way around our destination, right out of the theme park, up the cliffside, and down the cliff face – the greatest drop of any ride in the world; it won’t be for the fainthearted!’

The Falcon’s Flight will sit in the City of Thrills and will be joined by the world’s tallest drop-tower ride – Sirocco Tower – which is expected to top out at 475ft (144m) 

The roller coaster will  feature a ‘parabolic airtime hill allowing a weightlessness airtime experience’

Daniel Schoppen, vice president of design and development at Intamin Amusement Rides, the Lichtenstein-based firm designing the coaster, added: ‘I will never forget the moment when I was standing at the edge of the 200-metre-high (656ft) cliff on the Tuwaiq Mountain in Qiddiya, looking into the valley and imagining the creation of a future record-setting roller coaster.

‘I knew that exactly at this spot, the Falcon Flight will dive down along the cliff, ending in a unique, exhilarating 250kph-plus (155mph) proximity flight close to the ground.

‘The worldwide unique setting and heights such as the natural cliff will enable us to design an architectural masterpiece in steel.’

Six Flags Qiddiya is being built around 40 minutes from Riyadh in a partnership between Six Flags and the Qiddiya Investment Company.

A rendering of the 128-square-mile Qiddiya complex, where Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia is being built 

The 79-acre site will have 28 rides and comprise six parts – City of Thrills, Discovery Springs, Steam Town, Twilight Gardens, Valley of Fortune and Grand AndExposition.

The Falcon’s Flight will sit in the City of Thrills and will be joined by the world’s tallest drop-tower ride – Sirocco Tower – which is expected to top out at 475ft (144m).

The theme park will be part of the huge 128-square-mile Qiddiya complex, billed as Saudi Arabia’s capital of entertainment, sport and the arts.

It is also set to include a water park, sports stadium, theatres, hotels, a safari park, housing and industrial space. The first phase of the complex will open in 2023.

The current fastest roller coaster in the world is the Formula Rossa at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, which hits speeds of 149mph. The tallest coaster is currently Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, which stands at 139 metres (456ft).

The longest is the Steel Dragon 2000 at Japan’s Nagashima Spa Land in Nagashima, Kuwana. Its tracks run for 2.48 kilometres (1.54 miles).

And the top speed of the fastest falcon? The peregrine falcon can reach over 300kph (186mph) in a dive.

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