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Cargo Airships Are Happening

(www.elidourado.com)
220 points elidourado | 2 comments | 14 Oct 24 16:31 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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maw ◴[15 Oct 24 04:15 UTC] No.41844886[source]▶
If you can pick up goods directly from a customer on one side and deliver them directly to a customer on the other, you can actually beat today’s air freight service on delivery time.

I didn't understand this part, specifically how you could beat today's air freight. Why wouldn't airships be subject to the same (ahem) overhead at either end?

Competitive enough on speed while being less expensive makes sense, though.

replies(1): >>41844966 #
1. danielheath ◴[15 Oct 24 04:34 UTC] No.41844966[source]▶
Airships don't require a runway; a century ago they could moor to skyscrapers, or ships at sea.

If (big regulatory issues here) you can deliver directly from one site to another, you eliminate trucking goods to the source airport & from the destination airport. A 3 hour dirigible flight is slower than a 45 minute cargo plane flight, but buffering at a warehouse to loading / unload a truck (twice) could easily add 2-3 days latency.

replies(1): >>41845027 #
2. maw ◴[15 Oct 24 04:45 UTC] No.41845027[source]▶
That makes it make more sense. Thanks.

You're right that there are big regulatory issues still.