Cruise Review June 2001

Fuji Airship Catches Cruise Ship Spotlight in Miami

Mary Bond, Editor of Seatrade Magazine, reports for the June Issue of Cruise Review after flying aboard the airship in Miami.

Attendees at this year's Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami may have noticed an unusual visitor flying above the Convention Hall each day -no it wasn't a bird or a plane, but the world's largest passenger airship. Owned and operated by Airship Management Services, Inc, the Skyship 600 capable of seating up to 12 passengers, plus two pilots, has been used for advertising and promotional purposes by Fuji Photo Film for 16 years.

Whilst the Skyship 600 has also been used in the past for 'skycruises' over some of the world's largest cities including Paris, London, Sydney and San Francisco, the 12 passenger limit does restrict the financial return. Therefore AMS chief executive George Spyrou tells SCR the company is developing a larger 30 passenger airship called the Skycruiser which it hopes will be fully operational in the next two years. 'The Skycruiser has been developed with input and encouragement of certain cruise ship operators,' says Spyrou. A destination tour option could offer cruise line passengers 'skycruises' over cities or areas of scenic interest. The blimp glides silently at 35mph around 1-2,000 ft above the ground and offers a unique sightseeing experience.

Continued Interest from German Media

German Lifestyle Magazine 'Fit for Fun' April Edition features a 14 Page Article written by Marc Bielefeld and illustrated by Gerd Ludwig. The article features some great photographs of the Fuji Blimp over flying Miami and at Weeksville as it entered the hangar for its annual FAA inspections.