A new era for zeppelin travel?

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Do you remember reading about the Hindenburg disaster in history class? You know, that giant blimp that burst into flames in New Jersey in 1936 1937, killing all most of the passengers onboard? For the fledgling blimp tourism industry of the 1930’s, that was pretty much the end of the line.

However, according to recent news, the blimp is experiencing a resurgence as a trendy new vehicle for the upscale tourism market. Jean-Marie Massaud, a French designer and architect, has announced plans for a new 690-foot long dirigible with attached luxury hotel (obviously) called the “Manned Cloud.” According to recent reports several airlines including Air France and Emirates have expressed interest in funding the project. Believe it or not, Jean-Marie Massaud isn’t the first to propose such an idea – a tour company based in Germany has been taking passengers on blimp aerial tours for several years. Just imagine the views as you gently float among the clouds, gazing down at the spectactular scenery below…

So is the once-mighty dirigible industry poised for a comeback? Don’t book that non-refundable blimp ticket on Kayak just yet. Though traveling by blimp will surely be of interest to some (moneyed) travelers, it’s likely to remain a largely niche transportation mode for several reasons. Aside from the fact blimps top out at ground speeds around 100 MPH, they’re also quite susceptible to bad weather. Can you imagine being in a blimp during a thunderstorm? I hate turbulence on airplanes as it is. Not to mention these floating aircraft can only take on small numbers of passengers and need very large landing strips to touch down.

Oh well, so much for reopening that blimp dock on New York’s Empire State Building. But keep watching the skies – a blimp trip could very well be in your future.

First regular A380 service to the US announced

by Grant Martin on

Emirates finally announced its delivery and route schedule for the new A380s that it’s supposed to receive from Airbus later this yea, and New York is on the list of destinations.

Starting on August 1st, the Dubai based airline will fly direct from JFK to Dubai three times a week, with routes to San Francisco and Los Angeles to unfurl later in the year.

While this isn’t the first time that the massive aircraft has been seen in the states, it will be the first time that regularly scheduled flights are locked into the US and the first time that commoners like you and I have the chance to fly on the aircraft.

Make sure you keep an eye on the schedule and the airline though. While Airbus has most of the tweaks out of its production line, it’s not impossible that they could delay delivery by a touch and throw the late summer schedule into disarray.

I for one am looking forward to flying on Emirates’ A380. The combination of one of the best airlines in the planet with one of the most advanced aircraft flying around it is enough to make any airplane nerd giggle. We’ll keep you updated on the schedule.

US pilots jump ship; love Emirates

by Iva Skoch on

I had no idea US pilots were leaving the country in droves. I guess it makes sense. All the bankruptcies in the US airline business, pay cuts, frozen pensions, eroded job security and increases in monthly flight hours are not exactly benefits of the job.

This Time article, titled International Departures, describes the mood among pilots working in the US as not exactly filled with motivation. Many US pilots have already switched to working for international carriers, where they can still be treated like “upper-level managers, with something they feel has long been missing in the US: respect.”

Dubai-based Emirates, for example, expects to hire 540 pilots this year. Half the applicants are Americans, compared with just 7% of its current pilots. Over the past four years, over 100 US pilots have been lured by Emirates and their generous benefits package, including over 40 days of vacation and guaranteed annual raises.

I wonder what Kent will say about this trend. Any insights?

Next feature for the A380? Showers!

by Grant Martin on

Dubai’s Emirates airline just started revealing some plans for its A380 configurations. They’re the second customer for Airbus’s giant airship with delivery slated for later this year. And it looks like they’re going to try to beat Singapore Air, the first customer, in sheer ridiculousness of their first class product.

With showers. Yes, first class travelers on the new, highly-coveted Emirates A380 routes will soon be able to take a shower while they’re flying in the world’s skies. The service is slated to unroll on the new New York – Dubai A380 route scheduled for October 1, but eventually will be augmented into all of their super jumbo jets.

I’m curious as to whether this is going to be a high-water pressure, multi-head luxury shower or a tiny RV-style drizzle of water from the ceiling.

To support this service, Emirates plans to haul an extra TON of water on the aircraft, thus as the Times Online reports, increasing the carbon output by an extra 25 tons. Baffling. But as many airlines are wagering these days, the real money lies in the business class product. We cattle will pay anywhere around $1,000 for a flight between New York and Dubai, but each business class ticket should run around $18,000.

So much for being eco-friendly.

Welcome to Dubailand, twice the size of Disney World

by Iva Skoch on

I swear every time I read something about the United Arab Emirates development plans, I am amazed. Last week, I read about Masdar, the greenest city in the world, being built in UAE.

Today, I stumbled upon the plans for Dubailand, the world’s biggest amusement park in the making. Currently, the largest amusement park in the world is the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which is also the largest single-site employer in the US with 58,000 employees. Dubailand will be twice the size.

Check out these stats about Dubailand:

  • It will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles sq.)
  • The estimated price tag is $20 billion
  • The site will have 7 themes: Theme parks, culture & art, science & planetariums, sports & sports academies, well-being & health, shopping & retail and resorts & hotels
  • It will have a total of 45 mega projects
  • Dubailand expects a footfall of 40,000 visitors a day and 15 millions visitors a year once fully operational
  • It will have a minimum of 55 hotels within its geographical location

Doesn’t it sometimes seem that the world tends to copy the worst things about America?