Business
The world's largest aerospace group signed a letter of intent with German airship maker Cargolifter on developing 'lighter-than-air' vehicles, but Cargolifter's cash concerns still remain unresolved.
CargoLifter updates the concept of the Zeppelin
Boeing Corp., the world's largest aerospace group, is signalling interest in German airship developer Cargolifter, which has been plagued by financial difficulties and concern over its business plan.
The huge hall was originally built as an airship hangar commissioned by the German company CargoLifter AG. The shape was designed to accommodate the full volume of the airships and fit around them like an aerodynamic 'tailor-made suit'. Its gigantic dimensions posed a major challenge for the planners of Siemens subsidiary SIAT.
- CargoLifter will deliver the system, inflate the balloon on-site and hand it over to your team after final check. By request, a certified AirHook operator of CargoLifter will handle the system for you – or has your staff trained in the use of CargoLifter's mini-crane within a few days.
- The Aerofloat HL, CargoLifter CL160, helistats, Megalifter, Aereon Dynairship, Project Walrus and the HULA program are included because they are of historical interest as early, though largely unsuccessful, attempts to develop heavy-lift cargo airships.
The two companies announced on Thursday that they had signed a letter of intent to examine potential business opportunities to develop 'lighter-than-air' vehicles for commercial, defense and security use.
Shares in Cargolifter, which are included in the M-Dax for Germany's 70 leading mid-caps, soared more than 16% to close at 3.84 euro.
But the actual objectives of the letter of intent remain unclear.
A Boeing spokesman said that his group's involvement with Cargolifter could progress 'up to an investment'. 'But it can also come to nothing,' he cautioned.
As Cargolifter's funds are running increasingly low, the question of whether the airships made in the east German state of Brandenburg will ever take off thus remains unanswered.
Cargolifter Hangar Tropical Island
Chief Financial Officer Karl Bangert told Handelsblatt that the group's liquid funds would last for another three weeks at the most. He said cash funds in the second quarter, ended February, totaled around 17 million euro.
Cargolifter Airship
According to official figures, cash outflow reaches around 25 million euro per quarter.
Under existing plans, Cargolifter expects to turn a profit in its 2002/2003 business year, ending August 31.
Cargolifter Cl160
Boeing considers airspace supervision to be a lucrative area for airships. In terms of cost and performance they were superior to aircraft in this field, a company spokesman said.
Cargolifter Airship
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