The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 377: Chapter 322: Consecutive Global Voyages

As the Olympic Games came to an end, the heat brought by this two-month event that attracted the world's attention also quickly dissipated.

By the end of July, with the delivery of the first batch of 20 airships, the world's public was met with another hotly debated news - the official establishment of various countries' aviation companies.

Although these foreign capitalists only received their airships two months later, they were not idle.

During these two months, they sent a considerable number of employees to Australasia to learn airship piloting skills, aiming to let the airships enter the operational phase as soon as they were officially obtained.

It should be noted that the enthusiasm for global air travel is gradually dissipating, and the future ticket prices for airships are bound to become lower and lower.

The sooner the aviation companies can enter the operational status, the sooner they can get a share of the cake.

If it were not for the limited production capacity of Australasian airships, global aviation companies would have sprung up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain all over the world.

Of course, the difficult problem of limited airship production could not stump foreign aviation companies. Although the most advanced airships capable of traveling around the world were not enough in quantity, it did not mean that there were not enough ordinary airships for domestic aviation!

In order to make aviation companies' business more developed, these aviation companies successively established cooperation with domestic airship companies in their countries and purchased some small airships for the development of short and medium distance aviation services.

Especially the powerful countries including the United States and the United Kingdom. There were quite a few airship companies already in these countries, and with the establishment of various aviation companies, these airships became sought after by capitalists and were snapped up by major aviation companies to expand their domestic aviation services.

European international routes and domestic routes, intercontinental routes between Europe and the Americas, the United States' domestic routes, and global routes spanning Europe, America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia, etc. These various routes are the main targets of business expansion for major aviation companies worldwide.

After obtaining airships from Australasia, several airship companies from Europe and the United States claimed to be planning a global air journey to officially launch their airship companies' global travel services.

This is actually normal, as the last global air journey had been more than two months ago, and the enthusiasm was in a dissipating state, which could not last long.

In order to maintain the enthusiasm for global air travel and prevent the ticket prices of airships from falling too fast, the only option is to arrange new global air journeys to attract the attention of the world's public.

According to the news reported by Director Theodore to Arthur, aviation companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire all had plans to arrange a global air journey.

Unfortunately, at present, only aviation companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany have secured a share of airships.

This also means that the aviation companies that can truly plan a global air journey are now limited to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

From the current number of aviation companies in the world's major powerful countries, it can be seen that the domestic capitalists of these countries are already paying great attention to airships.

Even many European and American airship companies have sought to be listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange, but were rejected by the Exchange.

However, according to the news from various major stock exchanges in Europe and America, as of the end of July, there were at least more than 20 aviation companies worldwide, with half of them either already engaged or planning to engage in the global air travel business.

In a short period of time, airships became the most concerned mode of transportation. And global air travel on airships became a hot topic among the people worldwide.

Thanks to the influence of global air travel news, many young people in various countries have dreamed of traveling around the world in an airship, and this has even been promoted as the most romantic way by many media and newspapers.

Taking advantage of this trend, many aviation companies openly promoted airship proposals in the sky as the most romantic way, and even launched their own advertisements, stating that couples would receive a 30% discount on bookings.

Reality proves that in any era, women are easily blinded by so-called romance.

Reality also proves that using romance for publicity is an effective approach. Many aviation companies have attracted their first batch of passengers precisely because of this type of promotion.

In early August, after negotiations with the Australasian side, the global air travel of the American, British, and German aviation companies officially began.

Although not as popular as the global air journeys organized by Australasia, the global air journey plans for these countries' aviation companies also attracted quite a bit of attention from the public.

Some aviation companies even touted their own country's first global air journey and used national pride to get their people to support them.

Also, by riding the wave of global air travel enthusiasm and the curiosity of the public towards airships as a new mode of transportation, the share prices of airship companies listed on major exchanges usually skyrocketed several times.

With this tailwind, Arthur instructed Butler Kent to establish the Sydney Aviation Company and list it on the New York Stock Exchange.

As for why Royal Aviation Company was not listed, the name "Royal" was not suitable for Arthur's upcoming plans after all.

The registered person of the Sydney Aviation Company is an ordinary Australasian, but it is still controlled and managed by the Royal financial group in practice.

However, Sydney Airlines is only responsible for the airship business. In Arthur's eyes, this is just a subsidiary created to take advantage of the popularity of airships and to make money.

This company is destined to be abandoned. After being listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Arthur will gradually sell the shares of Sydney Airlines, completely severing the relationship between himself, the royal financial group behind him, and Sydney Airlines.

If everything goes as expected, using the enthusiasm for this round-the-world flight, making tens of millions of Australian dollars after going public is not a problem.

As for those American investors who might be taken advantage of, that's none of Arthur's concern. After all, Arthur is not the person responsible for Sydney Airlines, and any future aviation accidents involving the airships have nothing to do with him.

As time enters August, Australasia welcomes another major news: the two Monarch-class battleships built for Russia have been completed and have officially entered the sea trial phase.

In the naval order signed with the Russians two years ago, it includes two Monarch-class battleships and two Unified-class battlecruisers.

The two Monarch-class battleships that have been built are the Empress Maria and Catherine the Great.

The Russians have placed high hopes on these two battleships, which are to be equipped for the Baltic Fleet, strengthening Russia's naval power in Europe.

The two Unified-class battlecruisers, Gangut and Sevastopol, are also about to enter the intensive construction phase, with an estimated completion date at the end of 1913 and delivery before the end of 1914.

After completing the Russian navy order, the workload for the Royal Shipyard will be much easier.

In addition to the Russian order of two Monarch-class battleships and two Unified-class battlecruisers, the Royal Shipyard also has orders from the Chileans, including two Hope-class battleships, six Duke-class escort ships, and two submarines.

At present, the construction of the Chilean order proceeds slowly, with the completion of the two submarines expected in a few months, to be delivered by mid-1913.

The completion of the six escort ships may have to wait until the end of this year, with a theoretical delivery in late 1913.

As for the two Hope-class battleships, the construction time is the longest and the most laborious.

If everything goes as planned, the completion of these two battleships will have to wait until mid-1914 or even the end of 1914, with delivery waiting until the end of 1915.

Nevertheless, completion and delivery within the negotiated time frame is not a problem. It also provides an opportunity to strengthen the Royal Shipyard's capabilities in building super dreadnoughts while constructing the two Hope-class battleships.

When the Australasian Navy is equipped with super dreadnoughts in the future, the construction process will be even smoother.

Speaking of Chile, with the previous rubber crisis and drop in coffee prices, the naval arms race in South America has left some countries exhausted.

The once extravagant image has disappeared, and there are even rumors that Chile, on its side, wants to abandon its order for two super dreadnoughts to alleviate its financial pressure.

Arthur expressed no concern about such rumors and even felt like laughing.

No matter what, Australasia is currently a regional powerhouse, with a naval strength that can squeeze into the top eight in the world.

A country like Australasia is not a joke for Chile to mess with.

If the Chileans dared to openly abandon this naval order, it would be like a direct slap to Arthur and Australasia's face, giving Arthur the opportunity and excuse to invade Chile.

Under the premise of Australasian righteousness and reason, what would be the problem with launching an invasion of Chile?

Moreover, Australasia is getting closer and closer to Britain. Without British support, how can Chile possibly stand against Australasia?

This is the audacity backed by sufficient strength. As long as Australasia's overall strength is much greater than Chile, Arthur will never worry about the Chileans reneging on this order.

Frankly, Arthur is also very interested in South American land. Especially the black land in southern Argentina, one of the four major black lands in the world, which is a good agricultural area.

If the Chileans give Arthur an excuse, he wouldn't mind taking the opportunity to extend his reach into South America and plot for the black land in southern Argentina.

The Chileans probably wouldn't be so foolish. After all, even with financial difficulties, they can still seek external loans and debt.

Breaking the contract openly is undoubtedly giving Australasia a reason to invade their land. The Chilean government certainly wouldn't be so stupid.

In history, when facing such a predicament, the Chileans seemed to have only sold the two warships under construction to ease their financial pressure.