[13] The service comprises a 0.62-mile (1.00 km) gondola line that crosses the Thames from the Greenwich Peninsula to the Royal Victoria Dock, to the west of ExCeL London.

Presented to planning authorities in early 1997 by Meridian Cable Cars, this link would have run from the Dome site to the DLR's East India station in Tower Hamlets.

[16] The estimated cost of the cable car was £8–10 million, for 23 gondolas, each with seating for nine and standing room for a further six, that would have travelled at 5 mph (8.0 km/h) at between 50 and 80 metres (160 and 260 ft) in the air.

Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Expedition Engineering and Buro Happold, it would cross the river at a height up to 90 metres (300 ft), higher than the nearby O2 Arena.

The cable car would provide a crossing every 15 seconds, with a maximum capacity of 2,500 passengers per hour in each direction, about 50 busloads.

[21] A planning application was submitted to the London Borough of Newham, using the name London Cable Car, in October 2010 for the "erection of a cable car for the length of 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) over the River Thames from North Greenwich Peninsula to Royal Victoria Dock at a minimum clearance of 54.1 metres (177 ft) above mean high water springs".

[22] The application listed the structures planned for the service on the north side of the Thames as an 87-metre (285 ft) north main tower at Clyde Wharf, a 66-metre (217 ft) north intermediate tower south of the Docklands Light Railway tracks roughly midway between Canning Town and West Silvertown stations, a two-storey gondola station and "boat impact protection" in Royal Victoria Dock.

[22] South of the river there is a 60-metre (200 ft) main support tower and a boarding station within the O2 Arena car park.

[30] The deal with TfL for Emirates Air Line branding, bringing in £3.6m a year, expired on 28 June 2022.

[5] It was reported that a senior TfL executive had joked that a storm, which hit London in February 2022, had been their "last hope" for discontinuing the service without loss of face.

[33][34] The sponsorship deal also allows TfL to temporarily rebrand the cable car with other commercial sponsors, such as Pokémon in August 2022.

[35] TfL did note that the cable car "makes a profit", despite the substantial reduction in sponsorship income.

[36] All passenger gondolas are ready for disabled persons using wheelchairs, including those ones with leg rest extensions.

[30] To encourage use of the service for commuting, further discounts are offered with a multi-journey ticket which allows ten journeys within a twelve-month period.

[2] Critics of the cable car have dismissed it as an impractical transport solution, which will appeal to tourists at peak times but is unlikely to attract a large number of cross-river locals or commuters due to its location and the cost of tickets.

[53] The scheme was also criticised because the original sponsorship contract forbade the use of funds from Israel, which the UAE did not recognise diplomatically at that time.

It imposed restrictions on "(i) any Competitor; or (ii) any person who is a national of, or who is registered, incorporated, established or whose principal place of business is in a country with which the United Arab Emirates does not at the date of this Contract or at any relevant point during the Term maintain diplomatic relations.