Blimp

The world’s largest commercial airship has taken off from an airfield in Surrey in preparation for a voyage that will eventually finish in the United Arab Emirates.
The Spirit of Dubai, which flew over a number of London landmarks, will spend the next few months making sedate progress across Europe.

Flying over the Thames, the image of the vast airship over some of the capital’s best-known landmarks was reminiscent of when the Graf Zeppelin flew over Wembley Stadium on 1930 Cup Final day.

But while that voyage was to demonstrate German military might, The Spirit of Dubai was employed purely as a public relations stunt for a huge holiday resort in Dubai.

The airship, which has a cruising speed of 30 to 50 mph and an altitude of up to 3,000 ft, will be crewed by a team of pilots working in pairs. The trip will not be non-stop, the craft staying airborne for around six hours before landing for refuelling.

In a week, according to the promoters, the airship will consume less fuel than a Boeing 767 uses to get from its gate to the runway. Prior to its take-off on Wednesday, the airship was housed in an 812ft-high hangar at RAF Cardington in Bedford.

This trip was the first of two over London. Next week it will be seen over Birmingham and Stonehenge.

Then the airship crosses the Channel where it will be seen in Paris before heading south to Italy, flying over the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Rome, before heading to Greece, Egypt and then south over the United Arab Emirates to Dubai.