British Airways today announces its airline of the future - British Spaceways.

Star Wars set designers, Jim Henson`s Creature Shop, creators of the Muppets, a former NASA scientist, climatology experts and the Royal Geographical Society have all been consulted during the creation of Home Planet, the only `ride` in the Dome at Greenwich.

The journey is at the heart of the Home Planet zone co-sponsored by British Airways and BAA, unveiled today (Wednesday August 25).

It uses the latest in special effects technology to give passengers a once-in-a-lifetime experience of intergalactic travel in four dimensions. The seven minute ride on a 15 seater hypershuttle, speeds through the natural elements - tornado winds, freezing ice, and boiling heat before being thrust into the very centre of the earth`s core.

Visitors will come face to face with every type of life form from floating plankton to roaring lions - and the odd alien or two. The finale of the journey is a celebration of the world in which we live.

Bob Ayling, British Airways Chief Executive said: “The Dome, together with investments worth £6 billion in 70 other major projects in the capital will make London the world`s Millennium city - a spectacular global showcase for the best of Britain.

“Tourism in the UK has grown by almost 30 per cent over the last five years and is worth at least £50 billion a year. An estimated 26.8 million people will visit London this year and in 2000 we anticipate that the Dome and other attractions will grow the number of visitors to at least 28 million.”

Above the 65 metre wide Home Planet zone is a 12 metre diameter floating model of the earth.

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