MORE than 90 years after zeppelins terrorised London in bombing raids, the German airships are coming back with a more benign purpose.

Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik, the German manufacturer of the airships, has been given permission by the Civil Aviation Authority to make tourist flights over London.

The promoter of the tours is Rory Laing, a former contestant on the BBC show The Apprentice. The trips, set to start in June, will last for an hour and cost about £150.

Zeppelin hopes that the tours will help to erase the negative image of the airship among Britons following its use in the first world war.

The new passenger zeppelin will be nearly 250ft long and will carry up to 12 passengers and two crew members at an altitude of 1,000ft.

Although huge, the airship is a far cry from the Hindenburg, the largest zeppelin built, which was 800ft long, could carry up to 50 passengers and travel at 84mph.

The Hindenburg was destroyed when it went up in flames in New Jersey in 1937.

Modern airships are no longer filled with the flammable hydrogen gas that caused the Hindenburg’s demise. The airships to be used in the tours are filled with helium.

“Passengers will have a fantastic view of London. They will be able to take in all the sites as it goes over the River Thames,” Dietmar Blasius, a spokesman for Zeppelin, said.

“We could do some trips at night, which will give an amazing view of the capital.”

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