 The first hydrogen @-@ filled balloon was invented by Jacques Charles in 1783 . Hydrogen provided the lift for the first reliable form of air @-@ travel following the 1852 invention of the first hydrogen @-@ lifted airship by Henri Giffard . German count Ferdinand von Zeppelin promoted the idea of rigid airships lifted by hydrogen that later were called Zeppelins ; the first of which had its maiden flight in 1900 . Regularly scheduled flights started in 1910 and by the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , they had carried 35 @,@ 000 passengers without a serious incident . Hydrogen @-@ lifted airships were used as observation platforms and bombers during the war . 
