How can the worldwide flow of goods be streamlined and accelerated? Amazon is looking for new ways of achieving just that. According to a study by ETM publishing house*, the company has plans to launch a zeppelin.
Near-term reality or far-off dream?
It is an ambitious aim, based on an idea that is as revolutionary as it is simple. Amazon is hoping to operate flying warehouses – creating additional space without having to pay rent, at an altitude of more than 14,000 meters.
The stores in the sky would move to where they are needed most, close to major cities, where the vast majority of Amazon customers are to be found. Actual delivery would be by a drone that would pick up the goods ordered and take them to the customer’s doorstep.
The proposal is for each flying warehouse to fly to multiple cities, therefore serving a significant geographical market. Smaller airborne stores would be employed for fresh goods and fuels. Special shuttles could transport human workers to and from the warehouses.
US patent application number 9.305.280 was submitted by Amazon several years ago, on December 22, 2014, and published on April 5, 2016, as reported by online magazine ZD Net*. However, even though a Japanese video artist recently launched the Amazon airship on the Internet, creating a viral hit, the concept is still very much a futuristic vision. Amazon itself remains quiet about how and when it might turn the patented theory into reality.
A brilliant idea or just a PR stunt?
It would appear that the online retail giant is serious, at least with regard to its drone program. After years of research and development work, a Prime Air delivery drone recently completed its first assignment (according to ZD Net): it delivered a Fire TV box, including popcorn, to an address near Cambridge, UK, within 13 minutes – all completely computer-controlled.
Back to earth
However, the reality is more down to earth. “There is a long, long way to go before the flying warehouse becomes a reality. Looking at today’s technology, I find it hard to believe in the proposal’s implementation,” states Thomas Brandt, CEO of ZLT Zeppelin Lufttechnik in Friedrichshafen when speaking to the team behind the ETM study*. ZLT is the world’s only airship manufacturer. And they have yet to receive an inquiry from Amazon.
*German only