Dubai’s Burj Azizi will house what elevator maker KONE calls the longest lift ever built, a continuous climb past 2,000 feet with double-decker cars and AI routing meant to cut rush-hour waits.
The luxury tower in Dubai is being fitted with elevators designed for a continuous journey to 2,071 feet, using double-decker cars that can serve the equivalent of 140 floors, The Sun reported.
That dwarfs the roughly 1,600-foot ceiling typical of older steel-rope lifts and is meant for a building planned to rise 2,379 feet, set to rank as the world’s second-tallest structure when finished, behind only the nearby Burj Khalifa at 2,716 feet.
Finnish firm KONE is the manufacturing partner. Its pitch is simple: traditional steel ropes get too heavy for true megatall towers, so cities that keep stacking offices, hotels, shops, and homes into the sky need lighter hardware and smarter dispatching.
KONE’s UltraRope system uses ultra-lightweight cables and hoisting tech. The company says the approach can wipe about 3,000 kilograms off an elevator installation on journeys of up to 984 feet.
The cars are double-decker. AI is supposed to watch how people move through the building and assign the best elevator, cutting congestion instead of leaving riders staring at a crowded lobby panel.
KONE claims rush-hour periods could shrink by as much as 60 percent. Elevator technology, the reporting notes, has worked largely the same way for about 150 years, until weight and height forced a change.
KONE CEO Philippe Delorme cast the project as proof that yesterday’s skyline fantasies are turning into steel and glass.
"What was once considered a futuristic vision for cities is steadily becoming reality, with skylines reaching beyond a kilometre in height."
He said the company’s high-rise solutions answer the “ever-evolving urban needs” of supertall cities that pack more life into fewer footprints.
Pascal Nassour, KONE’s senior vice president of global major projects, tied the same kit to the next wave of ultra-tall construction.
"The same solutions that support complex high-rise projects today can help shape the next generation of urban development as more buildings reach past the one-kilometre mark."
Burj Azizi is planned for 2,379 feet. The Burj Khalifa still holds the crown at 2,716 feet. Between them, Dubai is treating vertical travel as infrastructure, not a novelty.
The new elevators are described as launching and being fitted now, with visitors soon expected to ride the full continuous run. Absolute dates for announcement, installation finish, or tower completion were not provided in the reporting.
Neither were independent audits of the “longest ever” claim or the 60 percent rush-hour reduction figure. Those remain company assertions tied to the UltraRope and AI package.
When a city builds this high, the rope, the car, and the software have to match the ambition, or the lobby becomes a parking lot with buttons.
