airship cruise to north pole

Simple Flying

This company wants to take you to the north pole... in an airship.

Expeditions to the North Pole by luxury airship will be launched within the next three years.

OceanSky Cruises is planning to launch expeditions to the North Pole. Weekly departures from Longyearbyen, Svalbard , will run from May through October, with services expected to begin in 2024 or 2025.

The lucky passengers will be treated to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The 329-foot-long airship is more like a luxury hotel, containing lounges, panoramic windows, and just eight luxury cabins, to create an intimate and personalized adventure.

The 38-hour trip comes with a hefty price tag, however. A cabin for two people costs 2,000,000 SEK ($210,000). Let’s find out more…

The itinerary

The two-night North Pole Expedition departs from the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, with the round trip to the North Pole taking approximately 38 hours. The airship does not require an airport runway to take off or land, so passengers can easily be dropped off in some of the most remote locations in the world.

• 6 pm – departure from Longyearbyen, Svalbard – the northernmost city on the planet
• 8 pm – cocktails and dinner
• 9 am – landing at the North Pole
• Briefing by expedition leaders, before spending the day exploring
• Lunch served at the North Pole
• 3 pm – departure of the return flight to Svalbard
• 8 pm – dinner
• 6 am – landing in Svalbard

The experience

The floating hotel features luxurious lounges and plenty of panoramic windows. Traveling low and slow, it provides the perfect opportunity to admire the wildlife and incredible scenery below. Those traveling earlier in the summer will experience the so-called midnight sun, with 24-hour daylight, while if traveling in the latter part of the season, passengers may be lucky enough to see the northern lights (aurora borealis).

What is included in the $210,000 price tag? The price covers return transfers to/from the airship in Svalbard, two nights onboard, including all food and drink (award-winning fine dining), a bilingual nature guide, and all activities when at the North Pole.

There will be seven crew members onboard, made up of pilots, flight attendants, a chef, and an expedition leader.

OceanSky Cruises also offers another itinerary, the Capricorn Voyage. Floating over Southern Africa, this trip gives passengers the chance to get up close and personal with some of the region's best sights, including the deserts of Namibia , Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta, and the white sand beaches of the Indian Ocean.

The future of sustainable aviation?

The OceanSky Cruises airship uses helium to keep afloat, aided by the aerodynamic lift created by the shape of its hull. Four propellors ensure the airship moves forward.

Taking advantage of strong Northern Hemisphere winds to increase its efficiency and speed, the airship has a much lower fuel consumption than other aircraft. In turn, it emits much less CO2 into the atmosphere. This is traveling without leaving a footprint.

Traveling by airship may not yet be mainstream, but it certainly presents some exciting opportunities for the future of sustainable aviation .

What do you think of OceanSky Cruises’ North Pole adventure? Share your thoughts by commenting below.

Discover more aviation news here.

A new era of sustainable travel

Airship expeditions with oceansky cruises.

We’re proud to be partnering with OceanSky Cruises to offer you the opportunity to become one of the first people to travel by modern airship to the North Pole. Read on to discover more about this exciting new era in pioneering and sustainable travel…

“ We are proud to launch our unique expedition in partnership with Discover the World who has been at the forefront of bespoke tourism since 1984. Their very early support of our ambition to usher into a new era of sustainable aviation meant that the world can now look forward to comfortable flights and flying with a significant less foot-print. ” Gisle Dueland, Head of Sales, OceanSky

- North Pole Expedition - Discover more about this extraordinary pioneering adventure and how you can join.

Flying with the wind, low and slow… your airship glides serenely across the Arctic Ocean. From the comfort of the luxurious lounge, large windows frame a spectacular view of icebergs and pack ice a few hundred metres below. There’s time to savour the moment. No roar of jet engines – just the gentle hum of battery-powered turbines. Instead of a cramped airliner cabin, your home in the skies is more reminiscent of a superyacht. Only 16 guests share the space in 8 sumptuous staterooms – modern-day explorers bound for the North Pole…

Flying to the North Pole in an airship

It’s been done before. The Norge flew across the top of the world almost 100 years ago. But the Golden Age of airships came to an abrupt end in 1937 following the Hindenburg disaster. So, why the revival in airship travel now? To put it simply, the time is right. Our exciting new airship expeditions with OceanSky Cruises harness innovative technology to offer aviation a safe, sustainable future. By joining one of these pioneering trips, you will be at the forefront of a new era in low-energy, zero-emission flying. And you will also make history by being one of the first to land at the North Pole in an airship. It’s going to be an incredible journey!

What are modern airships like?

OceanSky Cruises are developing new state-of-the art airships designed to fly for days and access the most remote and unexplored parts of the world. With no need for runways or airports, they can land in far-flung places with the lightest of footprints. Unlike a passenger jet, an airship’s cabin is not pressurized, which allows for large windows offering panoramic views – especially from the low altitudes at which they operate. You can also expect a luxurious experience onboard – 8 staterooms (some with viewing platforms), a sumptuous lounge and superb cuisine specially designed to suit the journey.

What is it like onboard the airship?

The interior of OceanSky’s airship offers a similar level of space, comfort and service as you would find on a luxury yacht. The airship is 98m long and 50m wide, and boasts a large communal lounge with bar, dining area and panoramic windows. There are 8 cabins on board, each sleeping up to 2 people and featuring an ensuite bathroom. Exquisite dining is all part of the experience and you’ll be treated to a superb menu designed by Jesper Vollmer.

North Pole Airship Expedition

7 days (including 48-hour North Pole journey) | 20 June and 11 July 2025 or 2026 | from £87,000 per person*

Departing in June and July, the seven-day North Pole Airship Expedition operates from Longyearbyen in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

Our polar Travel Specialists will tailor-make a programme of optional pre- and post-expedition activities for you, that might include kayaking and wildlife tours. When weather conditions are right, you’ll board the airship to embark on your flight to the North Pole and back. At the start of this unforgettable 48-hour journey, you’ll be captivated by the sight of Spitsbergen’s glacier-fringed coastline drifting beneath you. Perhaps you’ll glimpse whales feeding in the bays below, or even spot walruses or a polar bear.

*price is based on 2 sharing a stateroom, and excludes international flights 

As your airship floats out across the Arctic Ocean there will be ample time to relax in the opulent lounge, enjoy a cocktail and chat with fellow guests over a delicious meal cooked using local ingredients and paired with fine wines. During summer, the midnight sun offers endless daylight, so you will be able to admire the intricate patterns of Arctic pack ice passing beneath you late into the night. Retiring to your private cabin for two, with its shower and bathroom, deeply angled windows ensure you never feel detached from the breathtaking wilderness. Comfortable beds with eco-mattresses ensure you get a good sleep before arriving at the North Pole the following morning.

Slowing to a cycling pace, your airship gently touches down on the frozen white expanse of the High Arctic. Stepping onto the ice, you will become one of the privileged few to have reached the North Pole – and you will have done it using the latest ecologically sustainable, lighter-than-air technology. During approximately six hours at the North Pole, your expedition leader will help you explore the pristine and surreal surroundings before the 19-hour return flight to Svalbard.

Exploring Svalbard

As polar specialists we can create a personalised programme for your time on Svalbard that dovetails perfectly with your airship flight to the North Pole. Svalbard is a spectacular and fascinating place, combining the extraordinary landscapes and wildlife of the High Arctic with the history and culture of a polar outpost. Your base on Svalbard is Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost town, located on the shores of Adventfjord and surrounded by mountains and glaciers. Although the town has hotels, restaurants and shops, it doesn’t take long to leave the ’suburbs’ and enter untouched Arctic wilderness.

Explore in and around Longyearbyen

Hike along the shoreline and across tundra

Marvel at the flora and fauna

Join a boat trip to marvel at the magnificent bird cliffs

Is airship travel safe?

Back in the old days, airships were filled with highly-flammable hydrogen. But now it’s helium – inert, stable and non-flammable – that inflates the envelope of modern airships. They are also constructed with stronger, lighter materials and coated with bullet-proof Kevlar. Airships take off and land at about the speed of a bicycle; they have four independent engines and don’t need a runway in the event of an emergency. They also fly low and unpressurised, so there is no risk of rapid decompression. Like all forms of commercial aviation, OceanSky’s airships will undergo extensive trials and be regulated by stringent certification requirements.

What if bad weather affects my airship flight?

Our trips run in June and July during the height of the Arctic summer, when the weather is at its most settled. By building in extra days to the overall itinerary, there’s flexibility to embark on the North Pole flight when weather conditions are optimal. Several features of OceanSky’s Airlander also allow it to operate in less-than-perfect conditions. For take-off and landing, the airship is designed to tolerate wind conditions similar to commercial airliners. It is not restricted by cross-winds (an airship can simply turn into the wind and take off in any direction, since no runway is required) and it can also withstand lightning strikes and icing, similar to other aircraft. By flying slowly at low altitude, modern airships can safely navigate above or below clouds.

This is the first step towards truly sustainable aviation. As with any pioneering form of travel, it’s expensive and experiential to begin with, but the potential is huge. The North Pole is just the beginning. It was chosen to demonstrate how airships can take intrepid travellers to the remotest places with minimal impact on the environment. Where could it lead next? Well, OceanSky already have plans for a Capricorn Voyage in Africa, traversing the arid wilderness of the Namib and Kalahari. But the vision for airship travel is bigger and bolder than exclusive expeditions for the lucky few. OceanSky believe that, in the future, airships could be ’trains in the sky’ – a new kind of airline offering the wider public a viable way to travel and explore that doesn’t demand huge amounts of energy.

Airship images courtesy of Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd Interior images courtesy of Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd & Design Q Visualisations courtesy of Max Pinucci MBVision

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Onboard the Sustainable Airship Bound for the North Pole

At $240,000 for a double cabin, no expense is spared.

By Irenie Forshaw

Back in the 1930s, before the dawn of modern jets, airships were the pinnacle of luxury travel . Cruising at slow speeds and low altitudes of around 1,000 feet, passengers enjoyed stunning views as they floated over the cities and oceans below. By the end of the decade, though, this golden age of blimps was brought to an abrupt end with the widely publicized Hindenburg disaster. Now, Swedish start-up, OceanSky Cruises, is on a mission to bring back airship travel as a sustainable aviation alternative, starting with an expedition to the North Pole.

The company’s CEO, Carl-Oscar Lawaczeck, always had a keen interest in airships. With over a decade’s experience under his belt as a commercial airline pilot, the entrepreneur saw dirigibles as an opportunity to transform the notoriously emission-heavy aviation sector.

“Airships are very light which makes them extremely efficient,” he explains. “You need a fraction of the energy to fly them compared with an airplane as you don’t have to lift hundreds of tons of metal into the air and move at 500 mph.”

The huge windows reveal stunning views of the natural landscape / ©Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd and Design Q

For Lawaczeck, while net-zero pledges have good intentions, they are simply not sufficient for tackling the climate emergency. “Today, 80% of the world’s energy is supplied by fossil fuels – we’re decades away from having an abundance of clean energy,” he explains. “That means we need to make a plan on the consumption side. If we’re serious about becoming sustainable, we cannot waste energy on travel and transport, we need to change our habits, reduce our energy footprint and preserve energy.”

This begs the question should people really be flying to the North Pole onboard OceanSky Cruises’ new airship? But the CEO stresses that these luxury expeditions are just the starting point for introducing airships into the commercial aviation industry, which has the potential to preserve huge amounts of energy long-term.

“The challenge with introducing new technology to society is that in the beginning, it’s very expensive because there’s a lot of development costs,” he says. “For example, Tesla introduced the Roadster which is a premium sports vehicle in order to break into the industry. It’s the same with our concept – we have to create a business model that makes sense, to pay for those high costs and the best way to do so is through experiential luxury travel because the uniqueness of the trip means that people are willing to pay a premium price.”

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In this way, the CEO believes OceanSky Cruises’ expeditions to the North Pole will appeal to eco-conscious passengers who have a desire to “consume responsibility and help new technologies to flourish which can change the world”.

The Airlander 10 will feature eight spacious cabins / ©Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd and Design Q

Lawaczeck likens the experience of traveling onboard an airship to that of a “flying yacht” / ©Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd and Design Q

With a double cabin costing a hefty $240,000, the 36-hour journey certainly doesn’t come cheap. So what can passengers expect?

While the airship itself is still under development, tickets are already on sale and the first trips from Svalbard (a group of islands north of Norway) to the North Pole are scheduled for 2025. Developed by British manufacturing company, Hybrid Air Vehicles , the Airlander 10 will feature eight spacious cabins ensuring the expedition is an intimate affair with just 16 passengers on board.

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As you would expect, the interiors are seriously lavish. “When you fly low and slow, you have an unpressurized cabin, which means you can have very large windows,” says Lawaczeck. “Space is one of the factors of luxury. You can go to the bar, lie in bed, visit the restaurant and still watch the beautiful landscape passing by below you.” The CEO believes this level of comfort is a major advantage, likening the experience of traveling onboard an airship to that of a “flying yacht”.

However, persuading passengers to step onboard could be tricky. The Hindenburg disaster was over 80 years ago, but filmed footage of the ill-fated airship bursting into flames above New Jersey is powerful enough to linger in the public’s memory.

This has not deterred the ambitious CEO. “Airships exploding in the 1930s was not something that was common,” he says. “It was something that brought down the whole industry because it was the first filmed catastrophe in the world. Today, we’re not using hydrogen gas, we’re using helium which is inert so it’s impossible to set on fire – you will never see those accidents again.”

[See also: The Most Exciting Private Jet Concepts]

Passengers can visit the bar and restaurant while onboard / ©Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd and Design Q

The first trips from Svalbard to the North Pole are scheduled for 2025 / ©OceanSky Cruises

What’s more, he continues, airships land at a “bicycle speed” of around 20 mph which is safer than an airplane (a typical 747, for example, lands at around 160 mph). And if you don’t like turbulence there’s good news as flying at a lower altitude and a cruising speed of around 20-70 mph means traveling onboard an airship promises a smoother journey.

Of course, it also takes around five times longer to get from point A to B. But Lawaczeck envisions a future where airships can compete with planes and trains as a mainstream mode of passenger transportation as priorities shift.

“The unit cost of airships will come down for sure,” he says. “How far is very hard to say but according to our calculations we could probably reach the same price point as airplanes. I hope one day that people actually choose airships, because it’s a better experience and there’s an extra bonus that it’s energy efficient. People will always need to travel quickly but I think they will have to pay for the energy they consume and, in my view, energy in the future will be very expensive.”

oceanskycruises.com

[See also: Sustainable Skies: Jet Companies Making Positive Change]

Irenie Forshaw

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Latitude 90° north and around 430 miles from the nearest landmass… Who amongst us hasn't at one time or another dreamt of one day travelling to the very end of the world? A theatre of dreams, myths and human and technological exploits, but also, and since ancient times, of tragedy, the North Pole has always fascinated and intrigued. How many are the explorers who've attempted to reach the Geographical North Pole? Credit must finally go to Jean-Louis Étienne, who in 1986 became the first person to reach the North Pole alone, on skis. Embark for a cruise to the North Pole and you too can live this extraordinary adventure.

All about cruises North Pole

• Last staterooms

Transarctic, the quest for the two North Poles

The Geographic North Pole & Scoresby Sound

The Geographic North Pole

Transarctic, the Quest for the Two North Poles

Price is per person, based on double occupancy, based on availability, and subject to change at any time. The category of stateroom to which this price applies may no longer be available.

+33 (0)4 91 36 41 60 (or contact your travel agent)

Must-dos - North Pole

To embark on a North Pole cruise is to become one with the fabled history of polar exploration and live a sailing experience unlike anything else on the planet, pushing back the boundaries of the known world. As the ship makes its way slowly through the Arctic ice to reach this famous point, the immensity of the drifting ice pack reveals itself in all its glory: a luminous landscape of constantly changing shapes and reflections inhabited by an exceptional range of wildlife.

All about the North Pole

In the race to explore the planet, the North Pole for a long time remained unreachable, despite numerous attempts to get there. Though Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole on foot in 1911, it would not be till 1925-1926 that he was able to even fly over the North Pole, in an airship! Reaching the legendary North Pole on foot or by boat were feats not achieved until much later… A look back at more than 400 years of history.

Explore North Pole

Heading for the geographic North Pole

Jean-Louis Étienne, extreme adventurer

Slowly progressing amidst the ice

Sailing beyond the Arctic Circle through the glacial Arctic Ocean means dealing with a fragile and constantly changing environment. Finding the perfect path, weaving through the naturally open channels in the ice, hugging the ice floes... Profound humility, respect and a constant search for the most energy-efficient and safest routes take precedence over everything else when faced with the forces of nature encountered when cruising the North Pole A fascinating navigation strategy to watch and share together with the captain and crew.

A rich range of wildlife to see and observe

Though the North Pole is considered an icy desert in climate terms due to its very low levels of precipitation, its ecosystem is home to an exceptional range of wildlife wholly dependent on the ice for its existence. Cruising from Spitsbergen to the North Pole offers wonderful opportunities to see and observe a whole range of these fascinating and emblematic species, such as polar bears , Arctic foxes, Svalbard reindeer, Arctic terns, seals, walruses and whales.

Kayaking amongst the ice floes and icebergs

Adopting the age-old ways of life of Arctic peoples in order to hear the beating heart of the immense northern expanse is the ultimate dream getaway experience. An ancient type of boat, the kayak was invented by the Inuit 4,000 years ago and offers the best way to fully immerse yourself in the astonishing and intoxicating silence of the North Pole, allowing you to gently glide amongst the ice floes on a mirror of indigo to get up close to a bearded seal or a shimmering, crystalline iceberg . Originally a way of hunting and fishing, kayaking in the Arctic is today synonymous with relaxed contemplation and a true sense of connection with the fascinating extreme north.

Helping to advance the boundaries of polar research

The Le Commandant Charcot , France's only PC2-rated polar class ship, is equipped with polar research laboratories for hosting scientists onboard, thus providing an unprecedented level of support for academic research . The thrill of discovering or broadening your knowledge about the polar environment by attending fascinating lectures, or participating in experiments (such as collecting data about the weather, the ice and the water) useful for advancing international research, takes the experience of a North Pole cruise to a whole new level of adventure..

Reaching the legendary Geographical North Pole

The ultimate goal of an Arctic odyssey: reaching the Geographic North Pole located at a latitude of 90° north. Though the pole exerts a strong power of attraction, the extreme polar conditions are an obstacle only the most humble and determined explorers have been able to overcome. Heading out onto the pristine ice cap and setting off in search of the exact position of this legendary point once you arrive at the heart of this ocean of ice is a singular and unique experience, and represents the Holy Grail of North Pole cruises .

A historical and international epic

1596 : Willem Barentsz and his Dutch expedition are the first to reach the record latitude of 79° 49' N. 1895 : sailing aboard Fram , a ship designed with a revolutionary hull able to withstand the pressure of the ice, the Norwegian Nansen becomes the first to approach the North Pole on foot and reach a latitude of 86° N. 1908-1909 : Americans Peary, Henson and Cook each claim to have reached the North Pole, feats disputed due to a lack of concrete evidence. 1925-1926 : Amundsen, Ellsworth and Nobile become the first to reach the North Pole in an airship. 1937 : the Soviet Papanin lands at the North Pole by plane. 1958 : American submarine the USS Nautilus becomes the first vessel of its kind to reach the North Pole. 1968-1969 : the North Pole is reached for the first time by snowmobile by American Ralph Plaisted in 1968 the reached again the following year on foot and using dog sleds by Briton Wally Herbert. 1977 : Arktika becomes the first Soviet icebreaker to reach the North Pole, during the Arctic summer. 1978 : Japanese adventurer Uemura becomes the first to reach the North Pole solo, supported by regular parachuted plane drops of food supplies. 1986 : Frenchman Jean-Louis Etienne reaches the North Pole solo for the first time travelling by skis and dog sled. American Ann Bancroft becomes the first woman to reach the pole without support the same year. 2021 : with the arrival of the Le Commandant Charcot , the only passenger ship with a PC2 class hull, PONANT becomes the first luxury cruise line able to offer expeditions to the North Pole.

The North Pole Facts and Figures

The ocean reaches a depth of 4,261 metres (13,980 ft) beneath the pole. The temperature at the North Pole ranges from -43°C to 0°C In winter, the temperature can range from -43°C to -26°C , while the average temperature in summer hovers around the freezing point, 0°C . The sun reaches its highest point on the summer solstice, rising to a maximum elevation of 23.4368° . Because there is no permanent human presence at the North Pole, the region has no officially assigned time zone, though the normal convention is to use UTC+0 .

• At sea aboard Le Commandant Charcot
• At sea along Spitsbergen (Norway)
• Exploration of Ittoqqortoormiit Region (Greenland)
• Exploring sea ice in Beaufort Sea
• Exploring the Blosseville Coast (Greenland)
• Geographic North Pole
• Hornsund (Norway)
• Isfjorden (Norway)
• Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen (Norway)
• Magnetic North Pole
• Navigating through the sea ice
• Nome, Alaska (United States)
• Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve (Norway)
• Reykjavík (Iceland)
• Sailing in the Hinlopen Strait (Norway)
• Scoresby Sound (Greenland)
• Soraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve (Norway)
• Storoya, Svalbard (Svalbard)

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EXPEDITION HIGHLIGHTS:

• OceanSky opens a new world of luxury experiential travel by taking you on a pioneering expedition to land on the North Pole, on the first hybrid aircraft in history. A limited amount of tickets will be available for the true Pioneers.
• OceanSky Cruises’ first expedition is a journey from Svalbard to the North Pole aboard the Airlander 10. This modern hybrid airship has made it possible to travel to previously unreachable destinations with spectacular nature and extraordinary wildlife.
• Journey to the North Pole with Robert Swan as Expedition Leader. Robert is a climate activist, arctic explorer and the first person to reach both the North and South Pole by foot.
• The Airlander 10 Airship has capacity for up to 16 passengers and has a crew of 8. Passengers on the airship can enjoy luxurious, private en-suite bedrooms and horizon-to-horizon views in the aircraft’s Infinity Lounge. The Altitude Bar will offer drinks with the ultimate view, and guests can enjoy fine dining in the skies.
• The expedition will show that travel and transport by air can be sustainable. Lighter-than-air technology can supply humanity with ultra-efficient means of mobility, and operate in areas without infrastructure and civilization
• Experience the ultimate bucket list expedition to the North Pole in exclusive luxury – limited tickets open for bookings. First season 2023.
• The expedition to the North Pole is for the traveller who wants to experience the Arctic in a unique way, and at the same time contribute to the development of sustainable travel.

EXCLUSIVE LUXE VOYAGER VIP BENEFITS & BEST PRICE

We negotiate rates & benefits for our clients directly with the hotels’ senior management. Our rates match or in many cases are lower than the best online rate for the property. Our clients also enjoy a suite of extra VIP privileges and recognition while staying at a partner hotel.

Chat with one of our expert travel designers today to begin planning your bespoke expedition to the North Pole. The Luxe Voyager is an authorized agent for OceanSky Cruises.

Call: +852 9465 4577

Email: [email protected].

OceanSky opens a new world of luxury experiential travel by taking you on a pioneering expedition to land on the North Pole, on the first hybrid aircraft in history. A limited amount of tickets will be available for the true Pioneers of the world. Journey to the North Pole with Robert Swan as Expedition Leader. Robert is a climate activist, arctic explorer and the first person to reach both the North and South Pole by foot. The expedition will show that travel and transport by air can be sustainable. Lighter-than-air technology can supply humanity with ultra-efficient means of mobility, and operate in areas without infrastructure and civilization.

OceanSky was founded in 2018 after years of research in the lighter-than-air sector, looking at possibilities for sustainable transport. OceanSky Cruises’ first expedition is a journey from Svalbard to the North Pole aboard the Airlander 10. This modern hybrid airship has made it possible to travel to previously unreachable destinations with spectacular nature and extraordinary wildlife. The airship has capacity for up to 16 passengers and has a crew of eight – four pilots who work on shift, a steward, chef and two flight attendants. Passengers on the Airlander 10 can enjoy luxurious, private en-suite bedrooms and horizon-to-horizon views in the aircraft’s Infinity Lounge. The Altitude Bar will offer drinks with the ultimate view, and guests can enjoy fine dining in the skies.

Discover the unique modern vehicle that can travel for days and land in remote locations without airports. Comfortable, quiet, spacious and very efficient, it offers what Aviation should have been. OceanSky has selected Airlander 10 as our preferred aircraft. The Airlander 10 is unlike any other aircraft. It is the world’s largest flying vehicle and it uses innovative technology to combine the best characteristics of fixed-wing airplanes, helicopters and static lift by helium. The combination creates a new breed of hyper-efficient aircraft with abilities to explore the Arctic in a completely new way.

Passengers on the Airlander 10 can enjoy luxurious, private en-suite bedrooms and horizon-to-horizon views in the aircraft’s Infinity Lounge. The Altitude Bar will offer drinks with the ultimate view, and guests can enjoy fine dining in the skies.

Area & Location

Area, country, svalbard, sweden, nearest airport, svalbard airport, local currency, swedish krona, time change, best time to go, for long summer days, visit may through september. for snow, visit november through march, related hotels.

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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

You don’t work in a grey concrete block in Bedford for the incredible views. But you may work there to bring incredible views within reach. Inside the offices of Hybrid Air Vehicles, an hour north of London, is a simulator for a new type of luxury air travel that could give the rich and adventurous birds-eye views of the Arctic and the Amazon without the need for runways.

A couple of rudimentary aeroplane seats, four large screens, two control panels — this just about gives the sense of what it would like be to steer the world’s largest aircraft, a blimp called the Airlander 10.

“It’s tremendous,” says David Burns, Hybrid Air Vehicles’ chief test pilot, as we settle into the simulator. On the screens in front of us is a mock-up of San Francisco. Our craft gently rolls forward, a radically different experience from the usual hurling motion of take-off. We have to imagine the Airlander’s giant gas container above us, holding enough helium to fill 16 Olympic swimming pools. Some people have compared the shape to buttocks.

“I would never say that,” says Burns, who is deeply seriously about the joys of looking at the Earth from above. “Even flying over water is not boring. Apart from the odd thing that comes out of the water — a whale, a manatee — [there’s] the pattern of the waves, the sun reflecting. There’s just always things to see.” And unlike a commercial aeroplane, the Airlander takes you close enough to see them — cruising as low as 1,000 feet.

To date, the Airlander 10 has done seven test flights. Now a Swedish company, 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 — including cocktail, dinner and breakfast on the airship, lunch in the snow, and another dinner and cocktail on board — takes 38 hours; it will be guided by Robert Swann, the first person to walk on both the North and South Poles. Meanwhile, other tour operators are in talks with Hybrid Air Vehicles about using the airships for trips in warmer climes, including for visits to the temples of southern Egypt.

“By landing on the most inaccessible place on Earth, we can show the world that you can do amazing things with airships,” says Carl-Oscar Lawaczeck, founder of OceanSky and previously a commercial pilot. The journey to the Pole will be “something between a balloon ride and a small aeroplane — much quieter, much smoother”.

Staring at the screens in Bedford, with some creativity you can envisage wandering lonely as a cloud over the ice floes. Unlike a conventional flight simulator, there is no shaking — because the airship is designed to move slowly, at a maximum speed of 92 miles per hour. On an actual trip, passengers will be able to open the window — because the Airlander’s cabin is not pressurised.

Luxury tourism is the latest (and perhaps the most intriguing) attempt to make airships a viable economic proposition. The craft has long been promoted as the air transport of the future. In the 1980s, when David Burns first flew them, they were floating billboards.

In 2010, the US army paid for an Airlander 10 prototype, with the idea of carrying out surveillance over Afghanistan, before funding was pulled. Other uses — from cargo transport to providing connectivity at music festivals — have been explored too.

At a time when environmentally conscious consumers are cutting down on flights — and the aviation industry faces up to the existential emissions challenge — the Airlander’s moment may have finally come.

“The debate around sustainable aviation has completely the wrong focus. We’re talking about the fuel, when we should be talking about the aircraft,” says OceanSky’s Lawaczeck.

For each tonne transported a mile, the Airlander burns half as much fuel as a large aircraft and a sixth as much as a helicopter. (Per passenger, the difference is likely to be less, given that the Airlander does not pack people in.) Hybrid Air Vehicles is also working on electric engines to power the Airlander 10 — beginning “a development pathway that leads to zero-carbon flight”.

The Airlander 10 marks a big departure from the airships of the 1980s, which were so small that they had barely enough room for the pilots and a toilet — let alone those of the 1930s, with their rigid structures and flammable hydrogen fuels. Instead, its fabric incorporates Mylar and Kevlar; its cabin is built from fibreglass, making it virtually invisible to radar. A mock-up of the cabin now built in Bedford resembles a superyacht — with a bar, a lounge, viewing panes in the floor — as well as eight double cabins, each with a fulsome view.

The promise of airships is that you cover distances low enough that you can see the world, slow enough that jet-lag is not part of the equation. “You take your binoculars with you,” says Burns, the pilot. “You can just see so much of the countryside.”

Lawaczeck says that many people ask about turbulence. “If you hit turbulence [in an plane] at 500 miles per hour, it feels like you’re in a washing machine. Running into turbulence in an airship — that would be more like waves.”

On tourist trips, the Airlander is likely to travel at about 50 knots. The journey from Svalbard to the North Pole will take 15 hours each way, with passengers spending six hours on the ground. “We’re not here to displace passenger flights across the Atlantic. We’re not here to displace shipping across the Atlantic,” says Tom Grundy, a one-time defence executive who took over as chief executive of Hybrid Air Vehicles in May. “The idea is to make the journey part of the experience.”

The Airlander does not need an airport to take off and land — “any large, reasonably flat space including ice, sand, marsh, whatever” is sufficient, says Grundy. It will eventually be able to land on water too.

OceanSky’s offering is unmistakably an elite experience. Tickets started at $62,000 per two-person cabin; they have now climbed to $79,000. Lawaczeck promises some “really famous names” among the takers. He also talks up the new generation of aircraft — Hybrid Air Vehicles’ plans include the Airlander 50, which could accommodate up to 200 passengers.

What is required, however, is financial commitment. Hybrid Air Vehicles was formed in 2007 out of the assets of a previous company that had gone into administration. Since then it has absorbed about $150m in funding, producing one prototype that flew in 2016 and 2017. According to accounts from August this year, its future — and the prospects for OceanSky’s 2023 trips to the North Pole — hinge on raising £30m in funds, followed by a further £100m to build the first three aircraft. This, in turn, relies on a range of potential customers. The Airlander has a “common core” that can then be customised to different uses, such as surveillance and transporting employees to mining and oil and gas installations.

The irony of a low-carbon aircraft being used by the fossil fuel industry is not lost on Grundy. “Those contradict­ions are around us all the time,” he says. He argues that the Airlander is lower-impact than the alternative; some environmentalists would say that anything that makes life easier for the oil and gas industry is unwelcome.

Not everyone is optimistic about airships. Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Teal Group, says the fundamental choice was made when the Wright brothers surpassed Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, whose vision had included airships.

“It’s a technological road not taken,” says Aboulafia. “The odds that we would redo the evolutionary path are not all that great . . . You could do all of these things [that Airlander 10 is designed for]. Somebody just has to say, ‘We’re going down that path’.”

The debate around sustainable aviation has the wrong focus. We’re talking about the fuel, when we should be talking about the aircraft OceanSky’s Lawaczeck

Four other companies — including Lockheed Martin — have developed serious airship proposals. Hybrid Air Vehicles remains the only one that has flown, and the one that appears most refined. The Airlander 10 is already a sleeker, more aesthetically pleasing vessel than the 2016 prototype built for the US army. The fuel tank has been removed from the back of the plane, allowing a longer cabin. The idea of regular airship trips by 2024 is at least less fanciful than Donald Trump’s target of landing US astronauts on the Moon by the same date.

Meanwhile, in Bedford, Burns spends about 15 hours a week in the simulator, building up a reservoir of data for the Airlander’s engineers. We start our flight in San Francisco, because the software package is best. (By contrast the images of East Anglia lack detail, “so if I go flying for two hours, I can’t necessarily find my way back,” explains Burns.)

We cruise up the Bay at an imagined height of 1,000 feet over Silicon Valley. The software shows green fields that are in reality now surely housing. Travelling at 50 knots, we take half an hour to reach the city centre. “Let’s just get to Alcatraz and then I’ll be happy,” says Burns. The Airlander 10 has much further to travel before it gets on the market. Then again, with airships, the journey is part of the experience.

Henry Mance is the FT’s chief feature writer

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International Edition

Hey, Wanna Ride in an Airship to the North Pole?

This trip can be yours for the low, low price of $65,000.

• For about a decade, airships were extremely cool and current for the wealthy.
• The ratio of helium to passenger is gigantic, so this luxury airship carries just a handful of people.

Today, airships are primarily the butt of jokes in poor taste about the Hindenburg disaster . But that fatal 1937 crash put an end to what had been a thriving little golden age of airship travel. And rather than the technological stopgap in a Jules Verne setting, those airships were havens for the very wealthy to cruise in leisure and luxury.

Now, a Swedish company planning a North Pole trip for 2023-2024 is reserving cabins in an airship that will cost $65,000 per couple. It’s hard to imagine any version of a cruiseline safely operating anytime soon, but especially one based in Sweden, where officials opted to let COVID-19 spread freely with no restrictions based on the (now failed) rationalization that this would lead to herd immunity.

The OceanSky airship is undoubtedly cool, and very huge: it’s a double-wide blimp that’s 143 feet across and 321 feet long. With a maximum payload of just over 22,000 pounds, the airship won’t be able to carry more than a few dozen passengers at the most, plus luggage, crew members and their luggage, and everything from food to medical supplies to maintenance for the ship itself. (OceanSky's website says there will be seven crew members and 16 passengers.)

No doubt this is an exclusive, Jurassic Park -like playground for the very wealthy—and to see and touch the North Pole will be amazing. Plus, the extremely low density of the ship’s population means it may be coronavirus-compatible after all, if with a certain captive quality of having meals left outside the door while largely staying confined to quarters. But OceanSky says its ship is the largest aircraft in the world, and it still carries just 23 people.

While the idea of a future full of airships is exciting, the designs put forth in the earliest science fiction set a standard that artists and authors still use today: ships with reasonably sized envelopes, ones that are nowhere near the nearly 2,000 square feet per person that OceanSky’s ship requires. Even transatlantic steamships had enough capacity to pack in lower-class passengers at prices they could save for. This is a mode of travel that, unless something drastically changes in the science of buoyant flight, is limited to the most exclusive journeys.

And the drastic change would indeed be drastic : something like the discovery of a new compound or process that’s more buoyant than helium.

Maybe it’s some kind of chemical reaction that generates downward thrust as well as simple buoyant gases, or a combination of many things. Airplanes were once the territory of the wealthy only, and passenger planes took over where the abruptly canceled airship age left off. Perhaps we’ll be shopping flash sales on tickets to Phoenix on some future airship of the people.

Caroline Delbert is a writer, avid reader, and contributing editor at Pop Mech. She's also an enthusiast of just about everything. Her favorite topics include nuclear energy, cosmology, math of everyday things, and the philosophy of it all. 

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OceanSky Cruises’ airship hotel will fly to the North Pole

From 2024, swedish company oceansky cruises will fly elite passengers in a sustainable, floating five-star hotel that’s lighter than air. rose dykins reports.

In two years’ time, air travel pioneer OceanSky Cruises will launch expeditions from Longyearbyen, Svalbard, to the North Pole in its next-generation airship.

As the cabin isn’t pressurised, the on-board experience is quiet, with with pleasant quality of air. The airship also moves so slowly and smoothly, that OceanSky Cruises says no seatbelts are needed on board.

He adds: “Roald Amundsen flew from Svalbard and over the North Pole in 1926 with the airship ‘Norge’. Now we are doing the same expedition, but we will also land on the North Pole. The passengers will enjoy the Arctic nature in serenity and comfort in a hyper-efficient modern flying vehicle. They will be pioneering a new way to travel, flying for sustainable skies.”

Making it possible to fly continuously for days without needing supporting infrastructure, airships present a compelling proposition for high-end adventures, and accessing remote corners in the world with a minimal environmental impact.

Lawaczeck says: “[Airships] are the most efficient and clean aerial vehicles and they give us the freedom to access remote locations – wilderness, untouched places – without a footprint.”

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£160,000 to cruise the North Pole in a luxury airship

A Swedish company plans to revive the century-old tradition of luxury airship travel by launching a 36-hour round trip service to the North Pole from Norway.

The tickets will cost from about £160,000 per two-bed cabin and the first buyers will be allocated shares in the company, Sweden-based OceanSky Cruises.

Services are expected to begin in 2024 or 2025. The company said it planned to take off from Longyearbyen in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in a craft that has capacity for 16 passengers and a crew of eight including four pilots, a chef and the expedition leader, Robert Swan , the first person to walk to both poles.

OceanSky said it was in talks with a number of airship builders, including British company Hybrid Air Vehicles, maker of the Airlander 10, the world’s biggest aircraft.

The chosen ship will boast eight en suite double cabins with panoramic windows, a restaurant, lounge and bar. There will also be a special sightseeing room with glass on the bottom.

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OceanSky promises “a similar level of space, comfort, and service as you would have on a luxury yacht” including an “exquisite dining experience”.

The Airlander is the world’s biggest aircraft with a hull 91m long and 34m wide, and it can travel up to 130kmph. OceanSky will operate it at a leisurely 35kmph as it cruises north at an altitude of 300m — low enough to spot polar bears, reindeer herds and splashing whales.

The journey will take 15 hours and there will be a “cocktail hour and exquisite dinner” on the way. The airship will land at the North Pole for a six-hour stay and an optional catered lunch in the snow, OceanSky said on its website. “Jesper Vollmer, the former Danish royal chef, is spearheading our culinary programme.”

Crucially, unlike the Hindenburg, which burst into flames and crashed in 1937, killing 35 of the 97 people on board, the Airlander 10 will not be filled with hydrogen but helium, which is not flammable.

OceanSky has sought to reassure prospective clients and investors by pointing out that the most critical point in air travel is landing and take-off and that an airship does so at “bicycle speed”. It is coated with a double layer of Kevlar and even if all the engines fail the ship can stay in the air and can land on almost any flat surface, including water.

“Which airships will be in our fleet is yet to be determined,” Inge Serrano, a spokeswoman for OceanSky, said.

Dubbed the “flying bum” because of the shape of its hull, the Airlander is manufactured by Britain’s Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) and was originally developed for the US Army for surveillance use in Afghanistan.

It is called hybrid because it derives its lift from a combination of helium, aerodynamic lift like an aeroplane and vectored thrust, which enables it to change the angle of the engine as in a helicopter during take-off and landing.

The design means it burns very little fuel and can stay airborne for a long time — up to five days, according to HAV. It has a contract with Air Nostrum, a regional partner airline for Iberia, which plans to put 100-seat versions of the craft into service from 2026.

The Airlander has four combustion engines but aims to go electric in the future, which would reduce its carbon footprint to zero.

“The North Pole expedition is aimed at the traveller who wants to experience the Arctic in a unique way, and at the same time contribute to the development of a new era of sustainable travel,” said Carl-Oscar Lawaczeck, OceanSky’s chief executive and founder.

He said that airships were the most efficient and cleanest aerial vehicles “and they give us the freedom to access remote locations, wilderness, untouched places without a footprint”.

“Airships can become a symbol, a messenger of humanity’s transition to sustainable activities on Earth. If we can fix aviation we can fix everything.”

The company aims to have a fleet of more than 100 airships by 2030, focusing on the ultra-luxury travel and air cargo segments in the beginning.

It also plans to offer a six-day tour across southern Africa starting in Windhoek, Namibia, or Livingstone, Zambia, then touching down on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and Victoria Falls on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border before returning.

Bookings for that trip open soon, OceanSky said on its website.

It said sales of tbe North Pole tickets were going well. “Current demand for our North Pole expedition has exceeded our best estimations and inventory is running out,” said Serrano. “We are expecting a waiting list as of the beginning of 2023.”

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The North Pole Expedition of Umberto Nobile and the Airship Italia

By max pinucci, head of design at oceansky cruises. illustration by hun in the sun.

94 years have passed since that distant 25th of May 1928, the year in which one of the greatest successes of Italian technology and exploration turned into tragedy and nightmare in the space of a few hours. The airship Italia crashed on the ice: for the survivors, for the rescuers and for their families a drama began, still considered one of the greatest tragedies of the air. Ninety difficult years for the figure of Umberto Nobile and for history, which was sewn throughout this expedition, disagreements, controversies, conflicts. But it has an epic side to it: the first great international search and rescue operation.

In this short story, I would like to keep away from the technical, historical and political diatribes that still plague the reading of the Italian designer and his second, unfortunate polar expedition. I would like to remember the man, a restless dreamer but pragmatic and analytical, on one side Dante’s Ulysses, on the other side, designer and professor. I am fascinated by the life of a man born in the Mediterranean warmth, tied to the great north, to the Arctic lands, to extreme explorations.

I would like to narrate the eagerness for conquest, adventure, and challenge that man and the airplane brought to the extreme points of the world, that geographical pole of which little was known and much was imagined. What was up there? Perhaps the active volcano that Jules Verne imagines among the ice in his Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras? Or mountain ranges, islands, continents, habitable lands surrounded by warm currents?

Umberto speaks outside of an airship in Ciampino, Italy. Photo: Nasjonalbiblioteket

It is not easy today, in the age of satellites, GPS, and Google Maps, to realise that only ninety years ago little or nothing was known about the morphology, climate, and appearance of the Arctic. The romantic urge to venture into the unknown has given way to an ordinary habituation, which is fulfilled between online surfing and thousands of contrails crowding the sky. 

Even today, we still don’t know exactly who first stepped on the geographic North Pole: Cook in 1908? Peary in 1909? Kuznetsov or Gordiyenko in 1948? Fletcher in 1952? Not to mention the expeditions of Parry, De Long, Nansen, Andrée and many others, who tried with ships, hot air balloons and airplanes.

The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (who was the first to open the mythical Northwest Passage in 1906 and reached the South Pole in 1911) and the American tycoon Lincoln Ellsworth, for example, purchased a couple of Dornier Wal aircraft (manufactured by CMASA in Marina di Pisa) in Italy in 1925. They reached 87°44′ N before an accident forced them to return fortunately.

Today it seems to be certain that it was not the American Fokker F.VIIa of Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett to fly above the North Pole on May 9, 1926; too many controversies are still aroused by this flight. It is instead proved that the Amundsen-Nobile-Ellsworth expedition with the airship, N1 Norge, starting from Rome and then from Kings Bay, reached the Pole at 1:30 am on May 12, 1926, then continued to Alaska to land at Teller.

After the risky failure with the airplanes in ’25, Amundsen had seen in the airship the means of an airplane able to safely perform the polar flight. Having purchased the N1 Norge through the Aero Club Norway from the Stabilimento Costruzioni Aeronautiche in Rome, involving the designer and pilot Umberto Nobile, and gathering an international crew of great technical ability, Amundsen once again challenged the North Pole.

The success of the Italian airship, a semi-rigid of 106 meters long, 18.6 meters wide for a volume of 18,000 m3 (small and compact by the standards of contemporary rigid airships) convinced the world of the validity of the formula. The Norge was not the first, nor would it be the last airship designed for polar flight. In 1906, the American explorer, Walter Wellman had Godard in France build a blimp, christened America, with the intention of reaching the roof of the world.

He tried in 1906, then again in 1907 and finally in 1909, with a series of failures, fortunately without consequences. The British will also think about it, while the United States will officially commit; on November 20, 1923, President Coolidge approved the US Navy’s project to send the rigid airship ZR-1 USS Shenandoah to the North Pole. The ZR-1 (derived from the German Zeppelins of the Great War, 226.5m long and the first airship to use helium gas) was to fly to Alaska, in Nome.

From here it was supposed to fly over the North Pole, and then return or, in case of bad weather, head towards Svalbard. But doubts about the costs, the risk and the huge logistic needs, together with an accident that forced the airship to repair works, made the ambitious project fail.

The Arctic explorer and Norwegian, Roald Amundsen. Photo: Nasjonalbiblioteket

In the meantime, after the success of the Norge in ’26, Umberto Nobile’s studies concentrated on a larger and more robust semi-rigid airship, the N5 of 55,000 m3. Unfortunately, the project was not carried out. When he decided to undertake a new mission to the North Pole, this time all Italian, he had to fall back on the N4 I-SAAF, twin of the Norge, which was adapted to the needs of the Arctic expedition on the basis of the experience gained in the flight two years earlier and christened Italia.

By the standards of the time, its transfer flight from Milan to the Bay of Kings, Spitzbergen (today Ny-Ålesund), was a tough and challenging journey. Departing from Baggio on the night of April 15, the N4 Italia flew over Ljubljana, Vienna, Brno, Poznań to arrive the following day in Stolp (today’s Polish Słupsk). Here he stopped for seventeen days to repair the damage inflicted by the bad weather.

He left on May 3, flying over Stockholm to allow the crew’s meteorologist to drop a letter intended for his mother, between filial affection and superstition of the voyager, Malmgren would not in fact have survived the expedition. A brief stop at the anchorage pylon of the Norwegian city of Vadsø, which had hosted the N1 Norge two years earlier, and then off, northwest, to reach the support ship Città di Milano in Kings Bay, its mast and hangar, built by engineer Felice Trojani for the ’26 expedition.

94 years have passed since that distant 25th of May 1928, the year in which one of the greatest successes of Italian technology and exploration turned into tragedy and nightmare in the space of a few hours. The Airship Italia crashed on the ice.

The scientific mission begins on May 11, but the flight, troubled by problems, is aborted after eight hours. A few days later, on 15 May, another flight. This time it is a success; they fly over the archipelago of the Land of Franz Joseph and the Land of Nicholas II (today Severnaja Zemlja), 4,000 km in three days of flight. At 4:28 am on May 23, the fateful hour is struck, and the Italia leaves Kings Bay to reach, after just under 20 hours, the geographical North Pole.

There is no way to descend on the ice; the Italian flag, the banner of Milan and the cross donated by Pope Pius XI are dropped on the Arctic frozen wastes. They return home singing. Here the story becomes painful; navigation is increasingly difficult, the storm is inclement, the euphoria becomes discomfort, then anxiety, and finally terror. The collision. Men, equipment and wreckage that scatter on the ice, the vessel that disappears in the storm carrying six men. Ten remain on the ground, one of them forever. 

But man is an amazing creature. Biagi’s obstinacy, Cecioni’s lamentations, Malmgren’s fatalism, Mariano and Zappi’s insubordination, Nobile’s suffering, Behounek’s toughness, Trojani’s tenacity and the fortuitous shelter, stained with aniline, that will become history as la Tenda Rossa, the Red Tent. The radio calls went unheard by the support ship but intercepted by the radio amateur Schmidt, the race of solidarity that, for prestige or brotherhood, is unleashed to find the castaways of the air. If, until then, only a few expeditions had followed one another in those lands, the Arctic is suddenly crowded.

The Norwegian ships, Tordenskjold, Hobby, Braganza, Veslekari, Heimland, Michael Sars, Svalbard, the Danish Gustav Holm, the Swedish Quest and Tanja, the French Strasbourg, Durance, Quentin Roosevelt, Pourquoi Pas?. The Soviet Union, superbly equipped, sends three of its Arctic icebreakers: the Malygin, the Sedov and the Krassin, the latter led by Professor Rudolf Samoylovich, Arctic explorer and personal friend of Nobile.

Half of the 16 crew members of the airship Italia survived, plus Nobile’s dog

Norway sends four aircraft: two Hansa-Brandenburg W.33 seaplanes and two Sopwith Babys. A Junker F 13 arrives from Finland. From Italy, came the Savoia-Marchetti S.55, the Santa Maria that, piloted by Maddalena, will locate the survivors on the ice, and two Dornier Wals. Sweden sends two Svenska S5s, a Junkers G 24 with floats, a Klemm-Daimler L.20, a de Havilland 60 Moth and two Fokker CVs equipped with skis. It will be one of the Fokkers, piloted by the officer Lundborg, to land at the camp of the survivors and to take in flight with him Umberto Nobile and the dog Titina, condemning him with this gesture to infamy, commander who leaves his men, which would have persecuted him for the next fifty years, until his death.

The Soviet Union has its Junkers carried on icebreakers: the G 23 Red Bear of Krassin, the F 13 of Malygin, the F 13 of Sedov. And it is a hydro Latham 47 that departs from France with a crew of four. In Bergen it boards Amundsen, a fading star, who, perhaps out of ambition, perhaps out of friendship, leaves in search of his old companion. They will not arrive even at the Bay of Kings: after a stop in Tromsø to embark Dietrichson, disappear into thin air; of them only a float and two tanks will be found, August 31 in the Barents Sea.

It will be, as we all know, the Krassin, that, despite a propeller failure, will reach the survivors on July 12, and always the Krassin that will stop the search for the airship’s envelope on September 22. 

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