Topic 13: The Return of the Zeppelin

The demand for Zeppelin fell after the explosion of Hindenburg in the 1930s and so did supply. People were afraid to ride on the Zeppelin because they fear that the same thing will happen like the Hindenburg. However, technology has now improved and Zeppelin are now being made with better quality materials and are much safer to ride with. Airship Ventures is an oligopoly because it is one of three Zeppelins in service worldwide. It does not have many competitors and therefore people can only get this service either from Airship Ventures or the other two companies. Zeppelin can also be considered an oligopoly because as mentioned above, there are only three Zeppelins in the world. There are few determinants of demand in this case. If the future price of Zeppelin is going to rise, then people will "use" more of this service now. People's income are also increasing, which is also another determinant because they will have more money to use this service. If price of substitutes go up, then people might also use Zeppelin more often. I just watched a youtube video of Eureka in Long Beach, California and it doesn't really seem that dangerous to me. It looks almost like an airplane. I guess the technological change has completely changed the way Zeppelin are made. However, I think it still has the dangerous sides to it because it still isn't as safe as airplanes.