The sights of Paris are among the most familiar on the planet , but now tourists have a `` new '' way to see them -- by helium-filled airship . Airship Paris 's zeppelin -- 75 meters long , five stories high and as wide as a four-lane motorway -- made its inaugural commercial flight over a region of villages and woodland northwest of Paris on Sunday . On clear days , the company says , the Eiffel Tower would be visible in the distance . The Chateau de Versailles and Seine River are other sights to be seen on the airship 's itineraries . The German-made craft , the first commercial dirigible to fly over the Paris region in 30 years , according to Airship Paris , may have similar dimensions to an A380 superjumbo jet , but it 's a little slower at maximum speed : 90 kilometers an hour , at a 900-meter altitude . Tickets on the dirigible will be somewhat more expensive than other Paris tours , such as a seat on an open-top tour bus : prices start at just more than €200 ( $ 265 ) for a half-hour flight . Non-flammable fuel . The shadow of the Hindenburg disaster still hangs over airships , even though the hydrogen-fueled craft -- caught forever on spectacular newsreel footage -- exploded over a New Jersey airfield more than 75 years ago , in 1937 . Airship Paris is quick to emphasize the safety of its new zeppelin . `` This is probably the most safe aircraft [ flying ] because the gas inside is helium [ which is ] completely non-flammable , '' airship pilot Catherine Board , who is half-British and half-Belgian , told the Telegraph . `` If the engines fail , unlike an aircraft , which has to come down , [ the airship ] can float ... until we find a safe place to land . '' Airship Paris hoped its zeppelin would become a familiar sight in the skies above France , not only for carrying downward-peering tourists , but for transporting cargo or for scientific missions . However , one barrier to realizing those plans is simply the lack of existing infrastructure on the ground to cope with such a large aircraft .
Airship takes to skies around Paris for first time in 30 years . Latest zeppelin is size of jumbo jet -- but a lot lighter and slower . Tickets a little more expensive than most Paris tours ... make that a lot . Non-flammable gas makes craft `` safest way to fly ''