Goodyear Blimp returns to London skies... but what even is it?
The iconic Goodyear Blimp made a surprise return to London today
Office workers across London were treated to an unexpected sight on Wednesday morning when the famous Goodyear Blimp drifted over the capital for the first time in four years.
The enormous aircraft crossed the English Channel after taking off from Calais Dunkerque Airport in France before making its way over Kent and following the Thames into central London.
Flight tracking showed the blimp passing over Canterbury and Rochester before looping across the capital and continuing further north. It later appeared to begin turning back.
Despite its huge size, the Goodyear Blimp isn't exactly built for speed. The semi-rigid Zeppelin NT airship measures more than 75 metres long, stands almost 18 metres high and has a top speed of 73mph.
That didn't stop plenty of Londoners from doing a double take. Social media quickly filled with photos of the blimp.
The comparison has a historical basis. During the First World War, German Zeppelins carried out bombing raids over London. Nicknamed "silent raids" because they could approach with relatively little warning, the attacks killed 668 people and caused widespread damage across the capital. The destruction was later dwarfed by the Blitz during the Second World War, but the sight of a giant airship over London still catches plenty of people off guard.
What is the Goodyear Blimp?
Despite the name, today's Goodyear Blimp isn't technically a traditional blimp at all.
The aircraft flying over the UK is a Zeppelin NT, a semi-rigid airship with an internal framework that helps it keep its shape. Traditional blimps rely entirely on the pressure of the lifting gas to stay inflated.
Airships were once seen as the future of long-distance travel, carrying passengers across continents before advances in aeroplanes and disasters such as the Hindenburg crash in 1937 brought the era to an end. Today, they're a genuine rarity. Aviation experts estimate there are only around 25 operational blimps and airships left worldwide, making any appearance in the skies a fairly unusual event.
Goodyear has used airships for nearly a century, with the first taking to the skies in 1925. Over the decades, they have become one of the world's most recognisable corporate symbols, acting as giant floating billboards while also providing aerial TV coverage of major sporting events including motorsport, American football, golf and baseball.
While the blimp is a familiar sight in the U, UK appearances are much rarer. Before Wednesday's flyover, it was last spotted over London in 2022.
For anyone who happened to glance out of an office window today, it was a reminder that one of aviation's most unusual aircraft is still very much in business.
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