**Editor’s Note: Dear Tonic Readers, we regret to inform you that this story would have been better suited for the Smile File — the whole thing, apparently, was a hoax. We should have known it sounded too cool to be true, but like many other media outlets, we fell for it. If you decide to keep reading this post, please do so for amusement value only…**
Design company Seymourpowell, with support from Samsung Construction and Trading, has announced a new concept that will make you think you’ve stepped into a real-life version of The Jetsons. It is, no joke, a flying hotel, or, as a Seymourpowell press release describes it, “a clipper in the clouds.”
Named AirCruise, the contraption is a giant pod-shaped structure appointed luxuriously and able to sail smoothly through the air to its destination. Not only that, but the ship is environmentally friendly — it is floated by hydrogen and powered by solar energy. Samsung’s design director said the ship could be a reality as early as 2015 if plans for its creation go forward.
As designed, the AirCruise can only fly as high as 12,000 feet, since the hotel would not be pressurized, but its low-flying nature affords it the ability to dip down within a few hundred feet of the ground for viewing places of interest. The ship can cruise at almost 100 miles hour, which would take travelers from London to New York in 37 hours and Los Angeles to Shanghai in 90 hours.
Those long travel times harken back to the age of steamships, which, says Seymourpowell, is exactly the point. The concept, states the press release, “presents an alternative take on the future…. On Aircruise, it is the very abundance of time and space that defines the luxury experience. In a world where speed is an almost universal obsession, the idea of making a leisurely journey in comfort is a welcome contrast.”
Nick Talbot, Seymourpowell’s design director, explains that the idea of the ship questions whether airline travel is really a luxury, what with the restrictions on space and movement, the pollution inherent to that type of craft and the stress accompanying the flying process. “A more serene transport experience will appeal to people looking for a more reflective journey, where the experience of travel itself is more important than getting from A to B quickly,” he said.
See a video of this futuristic airship here: