Classified as a rigid airship, a zeppelin technically has to be produced by Germany's ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik in order to qualify as one. An airship is a gas-filled aircraft that's powered, steerable and lighter than air. Blimps and zeppelins are both airships, one semi-rigid, the other fully rigid.

Why are blimps called zeppelins?

A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (German pronunciation: [ˈt͡sɛpəliːn]) who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. ... The defeat of Germany in 1918 temporarily slowed the airship business.

Is the Goodyear blimp a zeppelin?

The European Goodyear blimp is operated by Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei, a commercial passenger flight operator, and the Goodyear Zeppelin NT is regularly used for public flights around Germany outside of sport seasons.