AKRON — Delegates to an international conference will discuss ways that airships can move beyond their role as an advertising tool.

        “I'm convinced there is a bigger future for airships,” Gregory Gottlieb, chairman of the conference, said Friday.

        “They suffered greatly partly due to the success of other types of aviation, which is a good thing. But now technology and materials are available to bring airships to the fore in niche markets where their characteristics can be ideally suited.”

        About 180 delegates from 13 nations are expected at the five-day conference, said Cary Dell, a Lockheed Martin employee and spokesman for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Lighter Than Air Convention and Exhibition. The meeting begins Sunday.

        On Monday, Henry Holmes, demonstration manager at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Command, in Huntsville, Ala., will make an announcement. Conference officials have refused to disclose the subject, although the Army reportedly is interested in high-altitude airships.

        Also, India's Rajkumar S. Pant, representing the Aerospace Engineering Department of the India Institute of Technology, has planned an announcement. That subject also remains undisclosed.

        Blimps have been fixtures for decades at sporting events and other special attractions.

        Mr. Gottlieb said airships will continue to serve public relations purposes, but their telecommunications and military applications are growing.

        One subject at the conference will be the use of the ships to support scientific research.

        Mr. Gottlieb, who works for CargoLifter, a German airship manufacturer, estimated there are about 28 functional airships in the world, but that the number is expected to grow.

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