Chapter 319: The Focus of the Celebration Banquet
"Theodor, could you please share the estimated price range for an advanced airship like the Dawn?" After hearing Theodor mention that the airships could be sold for non-military purposes, most people sighed in relief, and someone immediately asked this question.
Seeing that someone had bitten, Theodor took his time to respond: "Ladies and gentlemen, as you can imagine, it's not easy to create an airship capable of circumnavigating the world. If we were talking about the previous two generations of airships, that would be simpler, but the latest AU-3 airship, its cost has already exceeded sixty thousand pounds, and its selling price should be around eighty thousand pounds."
When doing business with capitalists, it's naturally about getting as much as possible. Even though the true cost of the Dawn airship was only a little over forty thousand pounds, it didn't affect Theodor's inflated pricing.
But truth be told, even if the final selling price really were around eighty thousand pounds, the aviation industry still had a lot of room to grow.
The price of a ticket for the Dawn airship was as high as tens of thousands of dollars, which translates to at least two thousand pounds at the starting price.
Even without the initial buzz of the first global circumnavigation, maintaining ticket prices above a thousand pounds should not be very difficult.
For at least the next decade or more, global circumnavigation using an airship would remain the exclusive domain of the rich and the elite.
For ordinary people to travel around the world, aside from using very slow cruise ships, it would perhaps only be possible in their dreams.
If we consider a ticket priced at one thousand pounds, with fifty-eight tickets available for sale on the airship, that's fifty-eight thousand pounds.
Looking at it this way, just two global circumnavigations would allow the sale of tickets to cover the cost of the airship, and even make a small profit.
Even if the ticket prices dropped significantly, the base price would still bring in at least five hundred pounds, generating almost thirty thousand pounds in profit per trip. Coupled with the various services offered on board, recouping the costs would be as easy as eating or drinking.
"Theodor, do you know when your laboratory will be ready to officially collaborate? I'm being honest, I already have plans to start an airline company. If you're willing, we can sign an order for at least ten airships immediately." A man dressed as an English aristocrat eagerly asked after hearing the official price of the airship.
Taking advantage of the remaining heat from the global voyage, airship ticket prices should be able to stay above a thousand pounds for some time.
This also meant that the earlier one could establish an airline company and start flights, the sooner they could become the first to capture a piece of the pie.
Although the current market for airships was primarily limited to wealthy people and elite capitalists in Europe, America, and across the globe, the number of such people worldwide was enormous, and they could easily sustain the aviation industry.
Especially with the economic development of the United States, the connections between America and Europe had become closer. Fleets frequently traveled across the Atlantic, and if the experience of taking a cruise could be replaced with flying an airship, many of America's and Europe's elite and capitalists would be eager to make the switch.
More importantly, airships were also great for cargo transport. With a maximum load of 40 tons, the airship became one of the best methods for small-scale transportation, and its speed was even faster than that of trains.
Furthermore, airships only needed a clear patch of land to take off and land, while trains required tracks and stations to be built, and regular maintenance of the rails; otherwise, they could derail.
Compared to these two modes of transportation, the people in the room felt that both trains and cruise ships were far inferior.
Some capitalists and elite individuals, who hadn't yet planned to establish an airline, also began to consider purchasing a private airship.
After all, airships were truly time-saving. With over a hundred people on board, the global circumnavigation took just a month and eleven days, despite taking some detours.
If only a few dozen people were onboard, and the route didn't involve detours, it would probably take less than a month to complete the journey.
As people discussed these points, the celebration banquet, originally intended to honor the aviation laboratory, suddenly turned into a business negotiation banquet between foreign capitalists and the laboratory.
Theodor noticed that many people were very interested in the airship, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Because, according to Arthur, at least half of the profits from the sale of airships would be invested back into the aviation laboratory for the research and development of airplanes and airships.
What surprised Theodor was that the price of eighty thousand pounds, which he had arbitrarily set, was actually accepted by these foreign capitalists without hesitation.
They didn't even try to negotiate, which made Theodor briefly wonder if the pound had depreciated.
It's worth noting that, at an eighty-thousand-pound selling price, Australasia would make a profit of forty thousand pounds per airship.
Every time fifty airships were sold, Australasia could build a super-dreadnought. The act of expanding one's military arsenal using other people's money was, in a word, blissful!
Were fifty airships really too many? Theodor glanced around at the people gathered around him, and he almost felt like the aviation laboratory would monopolize as many airships as it could build.
This made sense, as dominating the aviation industry would bring far greater profits than simply running an airline company.
Once they monopolized the aviation industry, the airship ticket prices could be controlled, directly affecting the profits of the airlines.
But for now, this didn't matter to Australasia. After all, only Australasia could manufacture airships capable of circumnavigating the globe.
With this technology, Australasia was in a monopoly position in airship production, at least for the short term.
Theodor's goal was to use this time to earn enough profits for the Royal Family's consortium and the aviation laboratory.
Theodor wasn't too greedy. If he could use this opportunity to generate at least three million pounds for the aviation laboratory, he would be satisfied.
To make three million pounds, they would need to sell at least seventy-five airships.
But when he looked at the capitalists surrounding him, and considered the worldwide uproar once Australasia officially announced the sale of airships, Theodor felt that this number wasn't unreasonable.
"Ladies and gentlemen, theoretically speaking, our aviation laboratory has already achieved the capability to mass-produce airships. However, formal collaboration is still some time away. We need to prepare adequately. If you wish, you can visit the aviation laboratory tomorrow to sign contracts for the purchase of airships and observe the airship production line," Theodor said with a smile.
"If all goes well, we should be able to sell the first batch of airships after the Olympics. However, due to limited production capacity, the first batch won't be large, and we expect to sell no more than twenty. But rest assured, once we expand the production line, the second batch will be in full swing," Theodor continued.
Although Theodor hoped to take advantage of the global circumnavigation's popularity to sell as many airships as possible and earn substantial profits, he knew the importance of strategic marketing. If too many airships were sold at once, the production line would be overwhelmed, and the effect wouldn't be as strong as using a "scarcity marketing" approach.
Orders needed to be signed in advance, but the production speed of the airships was fast. This would not only increase the capitalists' desire for airships but also encourage them to spend more generously.
(End of Chapter)
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