Kazakhstan civil aviation is mulling airships

Professor of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Viktor Inyushin and ballooner Yevgeniy Maikov proposed to supply of Kazakhstan civil aviation with air ships, Express K writes. According to experts, zeppelins may return next year. One of the main advantages of air ships is low fuel consumption. “Everyone is in danger in case of an airplane crash. Whereas an air ship will just stop in case of damage. Besides, modern air ships are able to move atthe speed of 180 km/h. It can cover the distance between Almaty and Astana in 7 hours,” Maikov said. Inyushin deems air ships very important for rescue operations in case of an earthquake. Renaissance of air ships manufacturing has already started in Russia. A training facility for air ship pilots appeared in Moscow Aviation Institute. GasProm is planning to use zeppelins for delivery of loads to areas that are hard to access. An air ship made by RosAeroSistema will go to the North Pole next spring. Currently the cost of Russian air ship is over $1 million, but the prices will go down after serial production.