Aircruise is a concept hydrogen

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

envisioned as the combination of

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours know ...

and luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

, designed by the UK company Seymourpowell. Its design director is Nick Talbot. It has attracted the attention of Samsung Construction and Trading, for whom a concept video was produced. It was later revealed that the concept was a

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

by Seymourpowell, and nothing like this concept could ever work.

Specifications

The Aircruise would be a solar and hydrogen

fuel cell A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen fuel, hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most bat ...

-powered airship.The Aircruise: A Sustainable and Luxurious Way to Travel
/ref> According to its design specifications, it would be tall containing of air and would carry a

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

of . It was "designed" to carry about 100 passengers with a flight crew of 6, 2 of whom are flight engineers, and another 14 supporting staff to look after passengers.News Australia
/ref> It would have glass floors for passengers to view the land and sea beneath.Aircruise From London To New York In 37hrs (In Concept-Land Only)
/ref> Its land speed would depend on the wind, but it would supposedly be capable of traveling at , in calm conditions.

Critical response

The Aircruise concept received generally favourable criticism, much to the embarrassment of reporters when the hoax was revealed. For example, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' stated that it could herald a new era of luxury travel.Aircruise: giant hydrogen airships could herald a new era in luxury travel
/ref> Coverage in ''The Scotsman'' welcomed it as attractive for its environmental friendliness.'Slow is the new fast' say the designers of cutting edge airship
/ref>

Eco friend

Ordinary cruise ships release 3 times as much greenhouse gas as a

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

per passenger and 36 times as much as the

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...

. The Aircruise was thus claimed to be an eco friendly alternative, with its zero emission design.

References

{{reflist, 30em Airships Aerostats Hydrogen technologies Hoaxes in the United Kingdom Publicity stunts