Well, sort of - fuel costs are real. Being able to transport 5 to 10 tonne point to point (you do not need an airfield to land an airship) while using very litt

Well, sort of - fuel costs are real. Being able to transport 5 to 10 tonne point to point (you do not need an airfield to land an airship) while using very little or no fuel that produces another avenue of competition. Cargo ships also run at a third of the speed, their advantage is fuel efficiency by weight and number of human crew by weight. If you could get capacity to something like 10 or 25 ton, it could directly compete with cargo by being slightly faster and more fuel/manpower efficient