Chapter 320:
The day after the banquet ended, that is, May 22, 1912, Australasia announced the establishment of the Royal Aeronautical Machinery Manufacturing Company and officially launched the business of selling airships to external parties.
In addition, Royal Australasian Airlines has also been established, and will establish a global route before the Olympic Games to facilitate athletes from around the world traveling to Australasia.
This decision immediately made the concept of airlines look forward to by many Europeans and Americans, and also made the Sydney Olympics more popular.
If you think about it carefully, even if you don't get a good ranking in the sports meeting, you can still experience a trip around the world in an airship. This doesn't seem like a bad thing.
After all, Australasia has stated that during the Sydney Olympics, athletes traveling from all over the world to Australasia will receive free airship tickets.
For many countries, this can be considered a big deal. After all, there are dozens or even hundreds of athletes from any country.
If calculated based on current fares, a round-trip airship ticket would cost at least tens of thousands of pounds, which is not a small expense for the current sports departments and associations in various countries.
Being able to travel for free has also made many countries more motivated to participate in the Olympics.
Anyway, it doesn’t take long to travel to Australasia by airship. After Australasia announced the airship flights, several countries actually chose to sign up for the Olympics temporarily.
This is good news for Arthur. If nothing unexpected happens, more than 30 countries and regions will participate in the Sydney Olympics, and the number of athletes participating in the Olympics will reach a terrifying 3,500 or more.
This scale not only far exceeds the London Olympics four years ago, but also greatly exceeds the original Stockholm Games in history.
As for the cost of transporting these athletes, it is actually nothing to Australasia.
After all, Australasian airlines can enjoy the cost price of airships, use these athletes and the Olympic Games, and in turn advertise for airships and airlines. This is a win-win situation.
Anyway, in order to make the Sydney Olympics famous, Arthur had promised to bear the travel expenses of all participating athletes and provide free accommodation and food in Sydney to the athletes.
It is nothing more than replacing the ship with an airship. Not only can it greatly save the time for athletes to come to Australasia, but the change in travel expenses should not be too big.
After all, I know my own business. The reason why airship tickets are so expensive is because of the popularity of traveling around the world and the novelty of airships, a new type of transportation.
A trip around the world by airship, including all expenses, should cost around £10,000.
Even if you don’t count the cost of various services, food and drinks on the airship, if you only calculate the ticket price, 58 seats, with an average of 172 pounds per person, can allow the airline to make back its money.
Based on this calculation, even if all athletes take free airships, the cost of two round trips is only more than one million pounds. You can make it back by selling dozens more airships.
Moreover, when the airline's business gradually expands, the airline's profits alone will be enough to cover these expenses.
You know, the people who can currently afford airship tickets are basically the rich or noble class in each country.
For these classes, an airship ticket worth thousands of pounds is nothing. Efficiency and comfort are their priorities.
The airship is definitely much faster to ride than a ship, and its comfort level far exceeds that of a ship.
This also means that as long as safety is ensured, airlines that focus on airships will become the main competitors in the global navigation business in the next few years or even more than ten years.
The huge number of capitalists and dignitaries around the world is enough to allow numerous airlines to make a lot of money in the aviation business.
Of course, as a provider of airships, Australasia must make the most money.
Until other countries and companies fail to provide airships with performance comparable to the AU-3, Australasia is the arbiter in the aviation business and the absolute leader in the world's airlines.
In fact, what can be expected is that major European and American countries will definitely quickly catch up with Australasia in terms of airships.
Leaving aside ordinary powers, it would not be difficult for top powers like Britain and Germany to catch up with Australasia in airship technology within a few years.
This also means that Australasian airship profits will last for a year or two at most before facing strong competition from Europe and the United States.
However, if things developed like this, it would be within Arthur's expectation and estimation.
You know, traveling around the world by airship is not that easy and safe. If airships were really so convenient and safe, they would have replaced airplanes as the most mainstream aviation tool in history.
The famous Hindenburg incident in history caused a devastating blow to the originally booming airship industry.
Airships in this era are developing more rapidly than in history, and the Hindenburg incident may occur during a circumnavigation of the world.
Retiring from the airship aviation industry early can be considered a good thing for Australasia.
After all, if an incident similar to the Hindenburg occurs, not only will they face large compensation, but the government and airlines will also face loss of reputation. Especially when the royal family is involved in Australasian airlines and airship companies, the royal family's prestige may be affected.
Perhaps it was the benefits and value shown by airships that made European and American capitalists excited. In short, the next day at the Aeronautical Research Institute, Director Teodor signed an order with European and American capitalists for hundreds of airships. The price is as high as 75,200 pounds, and the total value of all orders exceeds 8 million pounds.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the net profit from these orders is as high as about 4 million pounds, which is enough for two super-dreadnoughts.
It seems that Arthur's plan to sail around the world and bear the athletes' travel expenses is just a drop in the bucket.
After all, hundreds of airships cannot meet the world's aviation demand. According to Director Teodor's estimation, the world's aviation demand will enter the saturation stage with at least a thousand airships.
However, the airship is also damaged, and coupled with the cost of inspection, repair and replacement of various parts of the airship, this is enough for the Aviation Research Institute to have no shortage of income in the next few years.
If you add Australasia's own airlines, the revenue from aviation will probably exceed tens of millions of Australian dollars every year.
After this round-the-world voyage, both governments and capitalists in various countries saw the role and value of airships.
In the civilian field, airships will become the fastest means of transportation, and perhaps the most popular and trusted way to travel around the world.
Although the price of airship tickets is indeed not low, these days, people who can freely travel to other countries are definitely not civilians.
These people are either rich or noble, and their spending power far exceeds that of ordinary people in developed countries.
In the military field, current airships show even greater potential.
This is an air vehicle that can reach anywhere in the world. It is a potential threat to any country.
You must know that there are no satellites now. The only way for people to distinguish whether there is an enemy attack is through naked eye observation.
This creates good conditions for sneak attacks by airships. No country can guarantee that every inch of its territory will not be attacked by airships.
Whether transporting strategic supplies or transporting soldiers, the speed and efficiency of airships are worthy of attention.
Even as a pure weapon, airships can transport tens of tons of bombs, posing a serious threat to ground troops and facilities.
Starting from the end of May, European and American countries have successively announced a new round of research and construction of airships.
The British government has made emergency allocations to domestic airship research institutions and companies, and it is said that at least more than two million pounds have been invested in airship research.
Germany is not willing to give in. As the largest and most advanced airship manufacturing company in Germany, Zeppelin has received attention and support from the German government and received a sum of funds.
According to German news, Nicholas II also approved Russia’s domestic airship development plan, and it is said that the investment will exceed 500,000 pounds
.
The United States is even more wealthy and has announced assistance to multiple domestic airship companies, with assistance funds exceeding US$30 million.
Coupled with the large number of domestic capitalists in the United States, if nothing unexpected happens, domestic airship manufacturing companies will spring up like mushrooms after a rain in the next few years.
Even the island countries that lost British aid, under the call of their emperor, all tightened their belts and saved two million yen, buying airships and investing in research.
Many European powers, including France, Austria-Hungary and Italy, also have their own airship purchase and research plans.
For a time, the importance of airships was unparalleled, whether in civilian or military fields, and was valued by countries around the world.
Among all the countries that are determined to invest in airship research, the United States is probably the most wealthy.
The U.S. military contacted multiple airship construction companies in the United States and proposed its own airship procurement plan.
The U.S. military's requirements for airships must have a carrying capacity of at least 20 tons and be able to travel around the world.
The U.S. military has released news that as long as any airship company can meet this requirement, the U.S. military will order at least fifty airships and will reach long-term cooperation with the airship company.
This is no small amount of money. If we refer to the selling price of airships in Australasia, the value of fifty airships will exceed 4 million pounds, and at least a quarter will be pure profit.
In other words, as long as you can meet the requirements of the US military, you can get a profit of 1 million pounds for free. Even if converted into US dollars, it is 5 million US dollars. This is definitely not a small number.
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(End of chapter)