Yes, there's a very well defined, sophisticated reason which states that the same will not happen on Airships. Airships are wedded to their very finite lifting ability. The airlines cannot install larger engines, then cram seats into every opening. I remember a Boeing Executive alluding to this very thing long ago. The 747 is a true giant. It can carry within fifty passengers as the massive A380 chances those nightmare wings to carry. He said that they had built an airliner which had both lounges and restaurants on board, only to see those facilities taken out, and wind up replaced with either cargo, or passengers. He said they all wondered what use it was to build this giant plane which was loaded with creature comforts, if that was what was going to happen to them. In a way, the A380 has solved part of this as well, albeit completely by accident. Not a nice one either. As long as pieces of their wings continue being found on, or near runways, there will be very little cramming extra seats on A380's. But that is not how I want my personal space protected.

The airship concept will do a much nicer job, thank you. The Lockheed entry will go on the market immediately after the Paris Air Show. THIS YEAR! Of course they got a head start, because Obama cut the budget of the USAF, which included denying the air force the use of this beautiful, massive aircraft. This left Lockheed no choice, but to market it. They have to recover as much of their R&D as possible from somewhere, and the public marketplace makes for a logical choice. So that wait for corporate customers from the airline world to finally commit, and jump on board will be theirs. Nobody envies them in this part. But I have long been down on the airlines myself. I had wanted to fly on an airliner that had a restaurant and cocktail lounge deck for years, and they removed them right before I had the chance. The A320's offering into this world is simply too limited, and ............. well, gay. Sorry. I anticipated a dedicated deck for this, and I anticipated it for years. The layout of the A380 simply is not the same.

Airships will be different. Even though I haven't drank for years, I can still indulge in some manner. I expect these things to really take off right after materials tech makes one more breakthrough, and we will suddenly find ourselves able to utilize a vacuum for a lifting gas. You can find out when that will be a lot easier than I can too. I am positive that Edd knows far more about composites than I do, so you could simply ask Edd what a ballpark date for the final development of a composite strong enough to hold a vacuum without collapsing might be? Because once that happens, you can count on seeing a lot more of these things. Since nothing is lighter than a vacuum, there is nothing that can lift more than a vacuum. Personally, I can't wait. Riding on one is rapidly becoming my main ambition. A definite addition for the bucket list.