British Airways ends sponsorship of Brighton i360 tower

Visitor numbers at the i360 have been lower than forecast

British Airways has announced it will no longer be sponsoring the i360 viewing tower on Brighton seafront.

The company's naming rights sponsorship will end in November, the tourist attraction said.

The viewing tower has missed more than £6m of loan repayments over the last three years as visitor numbers fell short of forecasts.

Hamish McVey, from British Airways, said: "We are proud to have been the first sponsor of the i360."

The i360 tower was made by the same people behind the popular London Eye attraction

Ian Hart, chief operating officer of Brighton i360, said: "We have enjoyed a really successful partnership with British Airways since Brighton i360 opened in August 2016.

"The globally-recognised BA brand helped to catapult Brighton i360 on to the international stage from the very beginning."

He said the sponsorship deal with British Airways will end on 3 November.

The i360 tower is branded the world's thinnest tall building

In 2014, the city council agreed to lend £36.2m to Brighton i360 Ltd to fund the 530ft (162m) tower - money which came from the government's Public Works Loan Board.

In 2019, councillors drew up a loan restructure which reduced future instalments, in order to give the business a better chance of paying off the loan.

In July 2021 Brighton and Hove City Council agreed to defer a £1.2m payment.

According to a council report in 2021, interest on the i360's debt had pushed the outstanding sum up to £41m.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].