The Future of Travel

The future holds both promise and possibility for all as we contemplate travel years from now.

What will the future of travel look like? I don’t mean a resumption of the status quo post-pandemic. I’m thinking about how we might actually get from one place to another in 20 years’ time. There are many ideas on the drawing boards right now leading me to wish I had a crystal ball to see which ones make it from concept to reality. But not being a fortune teller means I’ll have to wait and see along with everyone else. In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at several technologies holding the most promise and the most excitement. This is the first installment of a multi-part series that will offer a glimpse into what might lie around the corner for transportation enthusiasts in the second quarter of this 21st Century.

The first free ascent of a hot-air balloon with a human onboard was on Nov. 21, 1783.

What takes hold in the future though is often rooted in the past. To put it another way, “Everything old is new again.” Take the blimp, otherwise known as the dirigible. These airships were once the giants of the skies. They were soaring before the airplane took off and were considered to be the first strategic bombers used during World War I. But let’s go back earlier - way back to 1783. That’s when French brothers Jacques and Joseph Montgolfier invented the hot-air balloon and took one to an altitude of 6,000 feet! Soon, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette witnessed the brothers launch a balloon carrying a sheep, a rooster and a duck. Before too long, a French physicist named Jean Pilatre de Rozier made the first manned balloon flight for the Montgolfier brothers and stayed in the air for almost 4 minutes. Even Benjamin Franklin later witnessed this new wonder of flight. We're told a bystander asked him, "What good is it?" Dr. Franklin responded, "What good is a new-born baby?" His foresight aside, while balloons could ascend to then unheard-of heights, they couldn’t travel on their own propulsion and were at the mercy of the prevailing winds.

The Hindenburg over Manhattan on May 6, 1937 A disastrous fire soon overtook the airship.

Fast forward to 1852. That’s when Henri Giffard built the first powered airship, a 143 foot long, cigar-shaped craft with a propellor, powered by a 3-horsepower steam engine. Later, in 1900, German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin invented the first rigid airship using heated air to become airborne. Following the outstanding success of this design, the word Zeppelin came to be commonly used to refer to all rigid airships. Over time, hydrogen gas replaced the heated air. The Zeppelins were initially flown commercially in 1910 by the German Airship Travel Corporation, the world’s first airline revenue service. Germany was prohibited from building large airships by the Treaty of Versailles ending the First World War, but in 1926 those restrictions were lifted. By the 1930s, the airships Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg operated regular transatlantic passenger flights from Frankfurt, Germany to New York and Rio de Janeiro. In fact, the Art Deco spire of the Empire State Building was originally designed to serving as a mooring mast for airships (although it was soon discovered that high winds would make this impossible so those plans were scrapped). The 1937 Hindenburg disaster, along with political and economic issues, hastened the demise of Zeppelins. That ill-fated aircraft was filled with flammable hydrogen gas which ignited following a static discharge. The tragedy spelled their immediate decline in favor and airships nearly disappeared. Those flying today use safe, inert helium gas but are mostly used for entertainment, providing panoramic aerial views for television as they hover over stadiums during high-profile sporting events. But even those are quickly being replaced by drones.

Cardington Airfield has a long and storied history with airships and balloons starting in 1915.

So, what’s all this got to do with the future of travel? Well, thanks to advances in technology, airships may be on the verge of making a dramatic comeback as a viable means of niche transportation and cargo delivery. With that, they will most certainly usher in a more environmentally-friendly form of carriage that might also inspire further, positive change. Enter Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), a British manufacturer based in Bedfordshire, England. “Without even trying, it’s a very green technology,” says George Land, HAVs Commercial Business Development Director. “Because of the very low net weight of the aircraft due to the lifting effect of the helium, you can take a high gross weight over a long distance with very low fuel burn,” he explained. “So, without even trying to be green or doing anything else, you have an inherently low-carbon aircraft.” The company’s Airlander 10 was developed at the cavernous former RAF hangars at Cardington Airfield and was “born“ after years of research. Powered by a hybrid of 4 combustion and electric engines, it cost some $42 million to produce but suffered several mishaps and eventually a nosedive after a 2017 test flight which forced its retirement.

The Airlander 10 prototype was the world's largest aircraft at 302 feet long.

But the company hasn’t given up on the aircraft or its initial goal of achieving zero-carbon flight. They’ve developed another plan to extend the functionality of the airship to include luxury expeditionary tourism, in addition to offering it to the military and for cargo transport. HAV has been working steadily on the new production model. They’ve added considerable updates that improve efficiency and maximize functionality, reduce drag, boost stability and made it even bigger! The prototype measured 302 feet but the new production model comes in at 320 feet, offering more space that can be used as needed, depending upon the customer. The current production model isn’t just larger, its enhanced shape and new architecture allow it to integrate new technology that will turn it all electric. The main cabin (excluding the flight deck) has also been extended. It will now offer 2,100 square feet of floor space which translates to a wider and longer cabin for those luxury expeditionary tourists. HAV expects to take about 20 persons to destinations like the North Pole so comfort will be key.

The HAV cabin interior will provide unparalleled opportunity for sightseeing up close and personal.

“You can use the aircraft basically as a floating hotel, taking people from very luxurious hotel resorts and getting to places that are really off the tourist beaten track,” said Land. “And the aircraft will be water-landing capable. It means you can operate right into the heart of some cities, whereas most airports are way out of town.” Right now, a Swedish company called OceanSky Cruises, is selling tickets for trips to the North Pole starting in 2023. It promises “ a flying, five-star hotel,” with polar bears and whales lingering below. The round trip from Svalbard (situated between mainland Norway and the North Pole) will take 36 hours (15 each way with 6 on the ground). Those will include time for cocktails and dinner after embarkation, breakfast the next morning, lunch in the snow and a final cocktail reception and dinner on the aircraft. Meals are promised to be prepared on board by an award-winning chef. The tours are to be guided by Robert Swann, the first person to walk on both the North and South Poles. Other tour operators are also in talks with HAV about using the airships for different trips in warmer climates, perhaps to visit the temples of Southern Egypt.

Aeroscraft is also working on the flying-saucer shaped Neona as a personal sky yacht.

The new Airlander 10 has a base price of $50 million and the company says it has 15 letters of intent for their airships (though it has yet to sign any private individuals). Luxury travel groups also hope to use them for safaris just hopping from one camp to the next. Companies like Flying Whale in France and Skunk Works, the research arm of US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, are designing airships to carry cargo and medical supplies to remote locations around the world. California-based Aeroscraft now has a 220-foot airship in production that uses solar power for propulsion. That company says its aircraft could also be used for jaunts, such as trips between relatively close-in Hawaiian islands. While the possibilities are numerous, Aeroscraft forecasts it will be another 3 to 5 years before its airship receives certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration for passenger travel.

An airship's utility is only limited by our imagination. Here, Flying Whales interacts with a container ship.

The airship's uses are legion and the advantage of using them in distant regions with little road infrastructure is clear. Airships could ensure the delivery of humanitarian supplies to remote communities. Delivering drugs in steady supply where otherwise impractical could save thousands of lives someday. The mining industry might also be a beneficiary of this advanced technology to reach far off and rich mining sites such as those located between Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo. And there’s more. Google’s Loon Project hopes to use them in providing WiFi access across huge, hard-to-reach regions of Africa and Asia. Some of these projects foresee airships capable of lifting 250 tons of cargo. Their future looks bright indeed. I’m convinced we’ll see these craft in the skies on a regular basis in years to come fulfilling a variety of needs with lower carbon emissions. I don't know about you, but I'd be first onboard if given the opportunity.

Until next time…stay safe.