Nippon Airship Inks Contract to Buy Airship from Germany
March 3, 2004
Nippon Airship Corporation (capital: Yen 190 million, president: Hiroyuki Watanabe), in which NYK has a 52.6% stake, signed a contract on March 2 to buy a "Zeppelin NT"-type airship from Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH in Friedrichishafen, Germany.
The purchase price is approximately Yen 1.3 billion covering accessories and the cost of training the crew as well.
"Zeppelin NT" measuring 75 meters in overall length and 17.4 meters in height, to be manned by a crew of 14, is the world's largest and most advanced high-tech airship capable of a maximum speed of 125 kilometers per hour.
Nippon Airship, slated to take delivery of the airship in mid-June, has sent her crew, including a pilot, to Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik for on-the-spot training, which started on March 3.
Upon her delivery to Nippon Airship, the "Zeppelin NT" airship is scheduled to make a month-long cruise across various European countries, followed by an eastbound ferry flight to Japan across Russia from July.
This ferry flight is engaging keen attention among the quarters concerned as a historic flight that will follow - for the first time in 75 years - much the same course across Siberia as that taken by Graf Zeppelin during her round-the-world flight in 1929. "Zeppelin NT" is due to arrive in Japan late in August.
Moreover, Nippon Airship is now holding talks with several companies which have expressed an interest in extending cooperation to this ferry flight.
As regards the European cruise of "Zeppelin NT," a plan is also afoot for the airship to cooperate in the ongoing joint filming project of Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and the UNESCO to make a digital archive of the World Heritage sites.
Upon her arrival in Japan, the airship is scheduled to make a publicity flight for the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan.