Businessman mulls Astana-Almaty airship link

Astana entrepreneur Herman Dubintsev has decided to set up production of airships in Kazakhstan, Express K writes. The businessman plans to build Kazakhstan's first airship and establish an Astana-Almaty route. According to him, a modern zeppelin with a cruising speed of 150 km/h could be a good competitor to the railroad. Dubintsov is planning to implement his project by the end of the year and organize a whole network of routes by the time Kazakhstan hosts EXPO-20176 especially since the project complies with the ecological trend of the exhibition well. "An airship for any person is just a bubble flying in the sky. However, production of this type of transport and its exploitation open a huge horizon of opportunities for development of the green economy. For example, right now airships construction industry is moving towards alternative energy use. Special materials for sheeting is being developed to not only hold the gas but also serve as solar batteries," Dubintsev said. The businessman added: "There is still an opinion that airships are not reliable in terms of fire safety. But now they are filled with helium, not hydrogen, and helium does not burn. Of course, the materials for zeppelin's body frames are totally different from those used for the notorious Hindenburg airship that burned in 1937. However, as Tsiolkovsky said, the airship will earn its keep even if it's made of gold. Space rockets are launched from Baikonur along Tsiolkovsky's rules, but the airships he so much loved are still not being widely used."