SWISS SKYSHIP OPERATOR OF THE EARLY 2000s
SWISS SKYSHIP OPERATOR OF THE EARLY 2000s
Skyship Cruise Ltd. owns 2 airships of the type „Skyship 600“. The main characteristics are the following:
Dimensions: Length: 60 m (220 ft)
Width: 15.3 m (50 ft)
Height: 20.3 m (66.6 ft)
Envelope-Volume: 7200 m3 (254’000 ft3)
Lifting-Gas: Helium (non-flammable)
Gondola: Length: 11.6 m (39 ft)
Width: 2.6 m (8.5 ft)
Height: 2.02 m (6.6 ft)
Seats: 12 (max. 13) plus 2 pilots / toilet and galley
Engines: 2 modified turbo-charged Porsche 930 engines
each 255 HP / swivel-mounted
Performance: max. speed: 90 km/h (560 mph)
cruise speed: 55 km/h (35 mph)
max. range: 1000 km (625 Miles) (std. config / min. payload)
max. payload: 1200 kg (2666 pomds)
Serial-# / Reg: Skyship 1215-602 / N-601SK
Skyship 1215-605 / N-605SK
The company Skyship Cruise Ltd („Skyship Cruise AG“) was established 1996 by Christian Schulthess and some co-shareholders in Zurich, Switzerland, with an issued share capital of CHF 1.1 millions with the idea to operate airships in Switzerland for tourism. Finally, in 2002 the first Skyship 600 was launched at the „expo02“, the Swiss National Exhibition in Neuchâtel.
In the following year „Skycruise Switzerland“ was founded, a daughter of Skyship Cruise specialised in Airship operations. And from 2003 on the Skyships operated from Buochs in Central Switzerland near Lucerne for uncountable happy tourists. But the company also was present all over Europe for many projects, e.g. with both ships during the Athens Olympics in 2004 for the security forces and for NBC to get great TV-shots from the air. You can find a short summary of the operations in Our past.
Unfortunately, in 2010 the operations were cancelled definitively, the 2 Skyships deflated and stored professionally for a potential later rebuild. The ships are stored since and the companies in liquidation.