Chapter 323: The Consecutive Global Flights
With the end of the Olympics, the excitement surrounding the event that had captured the world's attention for two months quickly began to fade.
By the end of July, with the first 20 airships delivered, another major news story emerged that sparked global interest—the official establishment of national airlines around the world.
Although the airships were only delivered now, two months after the Olympics, foreign capitalists had not been idle during that time.
In these two months, they had sent many employees to Australasia to learn airship piloting techniques, aiming to begin operations as soon as they received their airships.
The global excitement surrounding the world tour was slowly waning, and it was inevitable that airship ticket prices would drop over time.
The sooner they could launch their airlines, the sooner they could grab a piece of the pie.
If not for the limited production capacity of Australasian airships, global airlines would likely have popped up like mushrooms after a rainstorm.
However, the limited production capacity of airships did not trouble foreign airlines much. While the most advanced world-traveling airships were in short supply, that did not mean there was a shortage of domestic airships.
To expand their airline businesses, these companies worked with their domestic airship manufacturers and purchased smaller airships to serve medium- and short-distance routes.
Especially in the case of the major powers, including the United States and the United Kingdom. These countries already had several airship companies, and with the formation of many different airlines, these airships became highly coveted by capitalists, who rushed to purchase them to expand domestic air routes.
International routes between Europe and Europe, intercontinental routes between Europe and America, domestic routes within the United States, and global routes crossing Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania—all of these diverse routes were the main goals for airlines around the world to expand their businesses.
After acquiring airships from Australasia, several airship companies from Europe and the United States claimed they would also plan a world tour to officially expand their airline businesses into global travel.
This was to be expected. After all, the last world tour had ended more than two months ago, and the excitement was naturally dissipating, not lasting long.
To maintain the excitement around global travel and prevent airship ticket prices from dropping too quickly, new global tours had to be planned to keep the attention of the world's people.
According to the reports from Director Theodor to Arthur, airliners from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were all planning their own global tours.
Unfortunately, as of now, only the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany had obtained shares in the airships.
This meant that, for the moment, only the airlines of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany were able to plan global tours.
From the number of airliners in the major powers, it was clear that domestic capitalists in these countries were placing great importance on airships.
In fact, several European and American airship companies were even trying to list on the Sydney Stock Exchange, but were rejected by the Sydney Exchange.
However, according to reports from major stock exchanges in Europe and the United States, by the end of July, there were at least over 20 airliners globally, with plans already made or in the works for global travel services, with half of these 20 companies planning to launch such services.
Airships quickly became the most talked-about mode of transportation, and traveling the world by airship became a topic of global fascination.
Thanks to the excitement surrounding the world tour, many young people in various countries began dreaming of traveling the world by airship, and it was even promoted by numerous media outlets as the most romantic way to travel.
Seizing this momentum, several airlines publicly advertised that proposing marriage in the sky was the most romantic way to do so, offering discounts for couples booking tickets.
As history has shown, women have always been susceptible to the so-called allure of romance.
And it was also proven that using romance as a promotional tool was an effective method. Many airlines successfully gained their first passengers using such advertising strategies.
In early August, after discussions with the Australasia side, the global tour officially began for airlines from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
Although their global tours did not generate as much excitement as Australasia's organized world tour, these airlines' plans did manage to capture the attention of many people.
Some companies even touted their own countries' first global tour, using national pride to encourage domestic support.
Thanks to the global tour's popularity and the public's curiosity about airships, any airship company listed on major stock exchanges saw their stock prices soar.
Riding this wave, Arthur had Kent, the steward, establish Sydney Airways and list it on the New York Stock Exchange.
As for why he didn't list Royal Airways, it was because the name "Royal" was not suitable for Arthur's future plans.
Sydney Airways was registered under the name of an ordinary Australian, but in reality, it was still controlled and managed by the royal family's consortium.
However, Sydney Airways would only handle the airship business, and to Arthur, this was simply a subsidiary company created to capitalize on the airship's popularity and generate profits.
This company was bound to be abandoned, and after its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, Arthur would gradually sell off the shares of Sydney Airways, cutting all ties with the company.
If everything went as planned, it would be no problem to make a profit of several million, if not tens of millions, of Australian dollars after the global tour's popularity.
As for the potential losses for American investors, that was not Arthur's concern. After all, he was not the person responsible for Sydney Airways, and any aviation accidents involving the airships would not be his responsibility.
As August arrived, Australasia received another major piece of news—the two Monarch-class battleships built for Russia had been completed and officially entered the naval testing phase.
The naval order signed two years ago with the Russians included two Monarch-class battleships and two Tertiary-class battlecruisers.
The two Monarch-class battleships that were completed were the Queen Maria and the Catherine the Great.
The Russians had high expectations for these battleships, planning to equip them in the Baltic Fleet to enhance Russia's naval power in Europe.
Meanwhile, the two Tertiary-class battlecruisers, the Gangut and Sevastopol, were about to enter the crucial construction phase and were expected to be completed by the end of 1913, with delivery before the end of 1914.
Once the Russian navy's orders were completed, the Royal Shipyard's workload would ease significantly.
In addition to the two Monarch-class battleships and two Tertiary-class battlecruisers for Russia, the Royal Shipyard also had orders from Chile, including two Hope-class battleships, six Duke-class frigates, and two submarines.
Currently, the Chilean orders were progressing slowly, but in a few months, the two submarines should be completed and ready for delivery by mid-1913.
The six frigates were expected to be finished by the end of this year, and the Hope-class battleships, the most crucial, were projected to take the longest time to complete.
If all went according to plan, the Hope-class battleships would be finished by mid-1914, with delivery possibly extending to the end of 1915.
But no matter what, completing the deliveries within the agreed timeframe was still very much achievable. It would also provide a good opportunity to strengthen the Royal Shipyard's capabilities in building super dreadnoughts.
In the future, when the Australasia navy was equipped with super dreadnoughts, construction would be much more streamlined.
As for Chile, the recent rubber crisis and the fall in coffee prices had exhausted several countries in South America from the naval race.
Their once grand financial status had disappeared, and rumors were already circulating that Chile was considering abandoning their two super-dreadnoughts to ease their financial burden.
Arthur, however, was not worried at all—if anything, he found it amusing.
No matter what happened, Australasia was still a regional power, and its naval strength was enough to make it one of the top eight navies in the world.
With such strength, Chile could never be taken lightly.
If Chile dared to openly abandon this naval order, it would be like slapping Arthur and Australasia in the face, giving Arthur the perfect excuse to invade Chile.
In the face of a righteous cause, Arthur could easily justify a military invasion of Chile.
Moreover, with Australasia growing closer to the United Kingdom, and Chile having lost British support, how could Chile possibly be a match for Australasia?
This was the confidence that came with having sufficient strength. As long as Australasia's overall strength far surpassed Chile's, Arthur never had to worry about Chile backing out of this deal.
In a sense, Arthur also had his eye on the land in South America, especially the fertile black soil of southern Argentina, one of the four major black soil regions in the world, perfect for crop cultivation.
If the Chileans gave Arthur an excuse, he would not hesitate to extend his reach into South America and aim for southern Argentina's black soil.
Chile would likely not be that foolish, though. Despite their financial troubles, they could always take out loans or borrow money.
Openly breaking the contract would undoubtedly give Australasia a reason to invade. The Chilean government would surely be too smart to make such a move.
Historically, when Chile faced such a dilemma, they had only sold the two ships they were building to relieve their financial pressure.
(End of Chapter)
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