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On Board Sky Cruise, the Gigantic 5,000-Person Airplane Hotel Running on Nuclear Energy

Spend any amount of time on social media, and you will probably come across something called “manifesting,” or the practice of thinking aspirational thoughts with the purpose of making them happen in real life. The Sky Cruise could be – or wants to be – that, too.
Sky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacity 12 photos
Photo: YouTube / Hashem Al-Ghaili
Sky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacitySky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacitySky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacitySky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacitySky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacitySky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacityOriginal artwork that inspired the Sky Cruise conceptSky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacitySky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacitySky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacitySky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000-person capacity
Manifesting is when you think about something you want, and you will it into being. For most people, it’s silly daydreaming and a waste of time, a way of deceiving yourself into seeing a brighter future, instead of focusing on the present and actually doing something to alter the course of events. Of course, there is no science to back up the claims of manifesting.

Sky Cruise wants to be manifesting in the realm of aviation: a monstrous aircraft with a “sleek design,” which combines “the features of a commercial airplane with the epitome of luxury” and, because of all this, represents the “future of transport.” Sky Cruise is a gigantic flying luxury resort that never has to land, has a zero-carbon footprint, is more luxurious than anything else ever built, and makes unprecedented experiences possible.

Sky Cruise is a dream, both good and bad. No amount of manifesting will ever make it happen.

Original artwork that inspired the Sky Cruise concept
Photo: Twitter / Tony Holmsten
Sky Cruise is a video project slash concept from Hashem Al-Ghaili, which went viral late last month, after he posted it on reddit. Al-Ghaili is actually a popular content creator and, somehow ironically, he focuses on science stuff: he is a molecular biotechnologist and video producer, and he’s worked with various reputable trade publications in the past, mostly on science breakthroughs. But science-fiction is also a passion of his, as seen in his two movie directing credits.

He created Sky Cruise, based on an original 2011 artwork by concept artist and video game illustrator Tony Holmsten. That one, too, hearkens to the retrofuturistic designs of the ‘60s. You know, back when man was so naive that he thought the future was all roses and ginormous flying ships. The Sky Cruise is just like that: a 5,000-guest resort that flies solely on clean (and non-existent) nuclear energy from a small nuclear reactor relying on “highly controlled fusion reaction.” Unlimited energy would keep the Sky Cruise suspended in the air for “several years” so it would never even get too many chances to use its equally huge landing gear.

On board the Sky Cruise, you’d find anything you could possibly ever want. Just like on a cruise ship (but in the air), there would be malls (in the plural), cinemas and theaters for live entertainment, restaurants, swimming pools (again, in the plural), bars, playgrounds for kids, sports centers, and special relaxation areas, all grouped on the main entertainment deck. Up on the tail is a birdnest-like structure that is actually a 360-degree panoramic hall, which you access via an exterior elevator. Aerodynamics be damned, this thing would provide the most impressive and unique views.

Sky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000\-person capacity
Photo: YouTube / Hashem Al-Ghaili
The Sky Cruise has a separate area for conferences, business meetings and all sorts of events, so you could get married onboard if you wanted – and weren’t too particular about going on a honeymoon afterwards or, you know, ever setting foot on the ground again. A proper, full-size hospital would ensure guests and crew are healthy and fit at all times. All decks would be connected via external elevators and, just in case those aren’t enough to satisfy your craving for singular views, there would be three viewing domes on each side as well, so six such balconies in total.

Propulsion would be fully electric, with 20 motors powered, as mentioned above, by nuclear energy. Repairs and maintenance would be done in the air, as would resupplies: electric commercial airplanes and private jets would simply dock to the mothership and unload their cargo, and be off.

Al-Ghaili doesn’t offer estimates on the size of the Sky Cruise, but the video below shows it dwarfing 747s. An aircraft this big, carrying this much load, including the 5,000 guests and the many thousands of crew, would require an army of pilots to operate, you’d think. But that’s not the case: Sky Cruise would be fully autonomous, relying on artificial intelligence (AI) for everything. It will even have anti-turbulence technology, where the AI predicts turbulence and prevents it from happening by creating anti-vibrations that cancel them out. Like noise-canceling, but with air turbulence.

Sky Cruise concept proposes a gigantic aircraft that can fly forever, packed with luxury amenities and 5,000\-person capacity
Photo: YouTube / Hashem Al-Ghaili
Sky Cruise bears a resemblance to sci-fi ships like the Axiom in WALL-E, or Elysium, from the movie of the same name. On the face of it, it’s a dream aircraft, the kind that brings modern comforts and luxury up in the air, while technology keeps it there. But we all know how both these ships ended, and so we also know that the dream is more like a nightmare, even assuming it were possible. Which, to be sure, it’s not – or, as one commenter on Facebook put it bluntly, “Every single aeronautical engineer is crying right now.”

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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