Long Journey Reaches Its End In SF Bay Area

Passing over the Golden Gate Bridge on the last leg of the flight from Beaumont, TX to Mountain View, CA on Saturday, the Airship Ventures Zeppelin has finally arrived at its new home at Moffett Field.

The Zeppelin NT07 ("New Technology") was manufactured in Germany by Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH and transported on its trans-oceanic crossing aboard the 530 foot-long container ship "Combi Dock I" from Hamburg, Germany to Beaumont, TX.

Airship Ventures President Brian Hall, aboard the airship on the week-long flight from Texas, lauds this graceful and unhurried mode of travel. "It's a way to see the world in a way that you haven't experienced it before. In a zeppelin, you're flying low and slow. You're going at a leisurely pace. You're seeing things that you wouldn't see from the road."

As ANN previously reported, Airship Ventures will offer the only passenger airship flight service in America in over 70 years. "Flightseeing" tours will be offered from several Bay Area locations, showcasing the San Francisco Bay/Silicon Valley, Sonoma/Napa wine regions, and Monterey/Big Sur coastline.

Round-trip rides from historic Moffett Field will begin in late October, with flights from Oakland International and Sonoma County Airport starting in November. Tickets start at $495 per person.

The spacious cabin comfortably accommodates the pilot, flight attendant, and up to 12 passengers with luxury features including oversized panoramic windows, an onboard restroom with window, and a unique 180-degree rear observation window and "loveseat" that wraps the entire aft end of the cabin.

One of only three Zeppelins in the world, at 246 feet in length ranks as the largest airship flying in the US, more than 50 feet longer than the largest blimp. Unlike earlier designs using highly flammable hydrogen, this next generation craft is filled with non-flammable helium.

Airship Ventures plans to have two more airships built, CNN reported. Likely to be based on the east coast in New York and Florida, Airship Ventures hopes to begin giving tours in the new airships by 2010.

FMI: www.airshipventures.com