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Aircruise | Floating Hydrogen Gas Powered Luxury Hotel

     11th Feb' 2010,

London design bureau Seymourpowell submitted design flying hotel Aircruise. Standing 98ft taller than Canary Wharf, packing 330,000 cubic metres of hydrogen gas and capable of lifting 396 tonnes, the Aircruise concept features penthouse apartments, bars and even dizzying glass viewing floors.

Silent and pollution free, the Aircruise combines solar power with a primary hydrogen drive for a cruising speed of around 90mph. It can fly up to a maximum of 12,000ft but if there are specific areas of interest en route it can drop down to a few hundred feet.

Aircruise straddles the line between a cruise ship and a floating hotel. Theoretically, it could ferry 100 people from London to New York in a leisurely 37 hours or from Los Angeles to Shanghai in just under four days.

The main structure consisting of eight vertical, composite lattices supporting four main flexible envelopes, which contain 330,000 cubic metres of hydrogen gas. Lower decks are 'hung' off these primary supports. Each of the four external envelopes contains modular self-sealing lifting bags, minimising the incidence of bag rupture and ensuring safe flight even with a major external skin rupture.