In terms of possibilities; in the right market Ekranoplan technology offers a similar utility to air transport, but without many of the costs. Given the current demand in air travel, the right market appears to be in the shores of N/S Americas, Caribbean region & East Asia, to serve the indigenous population and to mesh with future economic and societal change. This gives players in the region a global advantage. Ekranoplan brings the speed and comfort of freeway travel, but without having to build the freeway first, or having to sink vast amounts of money into fixed infrastructure assets like roads, railways or airports. It offers a speed of the service that is about twice the legal road speed limit in most countries. And it does this without necessitate the huge environmental destruction inherent in building and operating most transport infrastructure schemes in which the vehicles themselves are often only a fraction of the total cost. Ekranoplan service can be introduced or re-deployed at short notice so the service can be evaluated by practice rather than by theoretical projection.
How big could the WIG business be? Perhaps equal to the helicopter business. There are a lot of parallels: a helicopter is far less self-stable than an Ekranoplan, it offers similar point to point speed, yet it has secured a rich ‘niche’ business. The world helicopter market is currently worth 4 billion USD, and growing at 3% per year. It is dominated by just five big players – perhaps another sign for Ekranoplans. On the other hand, there no 80+ seat helicopters and never will be. The demand will outstrip supply for at least the first decade, giving Ekranoplan manufacturers the opportunity to cherry-pick their customers (operators), and operators a market which is secure against competition from new entrants. Who, in mainstream marine transport business has such luxury?
The most important step is to start. The marine transport industry may be world’s second-oldest profession, founded when man first floated down a river on a log. Yet it can be woefully slow at evolving and adopting new ideas. So maybe now is a good time for us all to ask ourselves “What are we waiting for?”
Graham Taylor – Hypercraft Associates