For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by blimps. Had I ever seen a zeppelin I would have been fascinated by it too! On at least 5 different occassions in 3 different locations I have tried to finagle a ride on one of the Goodyear blimps. Always to no avail. It is one of my few life’s dreams to fly in one.
I knew about the Luftshifftechnik company for several years but hadn’t heard a U.S. company was buying one of their Zeppelins for commercial use. This sounds really, really cool. But… $495/hour! Wow, that’s steep! That’s close to the cost of a round trip plane ticket to London! I’d gladly pay $1,000 to fly from New York to London or Paris on a zeppelin, and I’d probably pay as much as $200 for a one hour flight, but $495/hour?
Oh well, hopefully this will take off (so to speak) and create more competition so the prices come down.
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When I started reading this and saw the line about being fascinated by blimps I expected the article to go in a completely different direction….then it turned out to actually be about blimps.
Sounds like you’re “Dazed and Confused,” John.
Call for Dr. Freud on the white courtesy phone.
Very funny, K. My first and foremost exposure to the genre are the Goodyear variety which are decidedly less elongated than the zeppelin depicted here. Much more feminine, the Goodyears.
I wonder if part of the appeal of blimps and zeppelins and all those other airships is their rareness? So if these zeppelins are a commercial success, maybe our grandkids will one day regard them with the same boredom that many already feel for commercial flight?
Actually, upon further thought, I doubt it. Due to that “speed” thing, I imagine that travel via zeppelin will only catch on with zeppelin enthsuiasts. (Also: cargo transport.) So even if it does become successful, I doubt it will ever attract the “I’m bored that I’m flying” clientele.
They’ve been used for cargo related things for awhile now.
Travel on a zeppelin was much more akin to traveling by ocean liner than flying in a plane. You’re right that they’ll never be a substitute for business travelers, but I bet if they made one like the old German hulks; with formal dining rooms, grand pianos and orchestras, luxurious sleeping cabins… There would be a market.