New Records Set at Dubai's Burj Khalifa Tower

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(DUBAI, UAE) -- Not only is it the world's tallest building at 828 meters (2720 ft), but the Burj Khalifa can't help setting more records two days after it was officially opened on January 4, 2010.

Today a pair of base jumpers fell freely for 10 seconds and then unfurled parachutes to sail another 30-40 seconds to the ground, covering 672 vertical meters.

UAE national Nasser Al Neyadi and his trainer Omar Alhegelan set a new world record for the highest BASE jump from a man made structure. Base jumping is an extreme sports activity that recognizes jumps from antennas, bridges, cliffs, and buildings.

Al Neyadi is the Accuracy Sky Diving UAE national champion of 2007 and has made more than 2,700 sky dives.

Alhegelan who has jumped from Mt. Everest and Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has completed more than 15,000 sky dives and holds World and US Titles in Freestyle & Freefly Skydiving.

Hundreds of visitors to Burj Khalifa watched the base jumpers from below. Some of them then went up to the observation level, taking a double-deck elevator, each deck carrying up to 14 people, and travelling 10 metres per second. One minute later, they reached the 124th floor called At the Top.

Thomas Dempsey, General Manager, Burj Khalifa, said that visitors wouldn't be disappointed. "The panoramic views are like those from an airplane, such is your height above ground," he explained.

At 828 meters, Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world according to the three main criteria of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. The Council ranks the world's tallest buildings by Height to Architectural Top, Height to Highest Occupied Floor, and Height to Tip. Burj Khalifa is the focal point of the Downtown Dubai area developed by Emaar Properties.

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