About 25 blimps exist in the world today, and if you're lucky, you may just be eating your lunch on one of them.
If that sounds like a load of hot air, well, it ain't. It's helium that keeps them suckers in the sky.
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Subway is getting all lighter-than-air as the Milford, Conn.-based fast-food restaurant chain quite literally takes to the skies, starting Sept. 1 in nearly 180-foot-long blimp that will be soaring over America.
Now, let’s take a step back – way back – to 1852. French engineer Henri Giffard flew the first steam-powered hydrogen-balloon airship with steering.
In 1895, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patented the Zeppelin rigid airship.
The Goodyear Pilgrim, a 110ft-long, 45ft-high helium airship, made its first flight in 1925. The Goodyear blimp was popular with luxury pleasure cruise passengers but was later used by the U.S. Navy and Army for surveillance.
Subway
Bird's eye view
Roughly half of today's blimps are used for advertising, according to Readers Digest.
The nearly 180-foot-long Subway in the Sky looks like a beast – but not just any beast. We're talking about The Beast, one of the Deli Hero subs that Subway introduced in July that features a half pound of sliced meat.
The company transformed the gondola into a floating restaurant that accommodates up to six sandwich lovers per trip.
The Subway in the Sky will stop in cities across the U.S, including Kansas City, Atlanta, Orlando and Miami.
Up to 40 Subway fans per day will have a sandwich "flight" of all four Deli Hero subs on board the blimp as they float 1,000 feet above the ground.
Flights will take place between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., with each trip lasting about 30 minutes. Passengers will receive a lunchbox with samples of the chain’s four new “Deli Hero” sandwiches to eat while airborne.
To reserve a seat on the Subway in the Sky and to view detailed flight information, people can visit Register.SubwayInTheSky.com
Subway is also giving fans a chance go to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas with a Subway in the Sky online game by visiting SubwayInTheSky.com or scanning a QR code in their local Subway restaurant.
The next big thing
And airships could be the next really big thing. A company called Flying Whales recently received backing from the French government.
Flying Whales’ airship will be filled with helium and powered by a hybrid electric engine running on sustainable aviation fuel.
The company’s head of communications, Romain Schlack, told Thrillist last month that the airship, which can carry 60 tons of cargo, will be more environmentally friendly than a helicopter, producing less than a tenth of the carbon emissions.
Then there’s LTA Research & Exploration, which has backing from Google’s (GOOGL) -) co-founder Sergey Brin, that says on its website that "we are united in the belief that next-generation airships can complement humanitarian aid and reduce the carbon-footprint of aviation."
UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) has the Airlander aircraft, which a company spokesperson said is “a new type of hybrid aircraft, combining multiple technologies to unlock capability, cost, and environmental benefits.”
HAV plans to launch Airlander in 2026, with capacity to carry 100 passengers. Keep watching the skies.
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