Zip World unveils Rhyl ‘blimp ride’ plans 

The company behind a failed attempt to install a 400-metre zip wire in Liverpool City Centre has lodged plans for a ‘SkyFlyer’ attraction on the site of the former Sun Centre in the North Wales town. 

The attraction would see riders taken 400ft in the air on board a gondola beneath a Skyflyer-branded blimp. 

Wales-based Zip World is delivering the scheme in partnership with Denbighshire Leisure, an offshoot of Denbighshire Council.  

The attraction is designed by Lindstrand Technologies, a company run by Per Lindstrand, a Swedish aeronautical engineer and entrepreneur.

A planning application for the project has been submitted to Denbighshire Council.

The scheme would form part of the wider regeneration of the seafront site, which includes SC2, an indoor waterpark created as a replacement to the Sun Centre, and the recently refurbished Rhyl Pavilion Theatre. 

Sean Taylor, founder of Zip World, said: “This is a fantastic attraction for Rhyl, as well as the whole of North Wales, and will see visitors from all over the country coming to tick this off their bucket lists.” 

In Liverpool, Zip World won consent for an attraction that would have seen the installation of a zip wire between St John’s Beacon to Central Library, sparking anger among residents and conservation groups. 

However, former Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson intervened, rescinding planning permission. 

Speaking to Place North West, Taylor said the company was no longer pursuing a scheme in Liverpool after the zip wire experience left “a bitter taste in the mouth”.