Airship

"They will be close-watching the chutes and the streets. They will never think to look above their heads!"

- Toa Metru Matau, Comic 19: Enemies of Metru Nui

Airships were a type of flying vehicle operated in many different areas of the Matoran Universe, usually for the purpose of transporting cargo.

Metru Nui
Like all Metru Nui forms of transport, the City of Legend's airships were based primarily at the Le-Metru Moto-Hub and operated by skilled Le-Matoran pilots.

Prior to the Great Cataclysm, airships were utilized as one of the primary methods of transportation in Metru Nui, along with the liquid Protodermis canals and the Chute network. The shipments of cargo transported usually included Onu-Metru-bound Rahi, solid Protodermis blocks and tools for use by Po-Metru Carvers, and other bulk items to be carried to points around the city. Passenger airships, however, were never put into use as they would have been much slower and more inefficient than the Chutes and Ussal carts.

Shortly before the Great Cataclysm, travel via airship was strictly prohibited for ordinary Matoran without the authorization of a supervisor.

The Toa Metru Vakama, Nokama and Matau once stowed away on board a cargo airship taking off from Le-Metru during their search for Toa Mangai Lhikan, but were unaware that several robotic Vahki Nuurakh were on board as well. Although the Toa managed to destroy the Vahki, the Dark Hunters Krekka and Nidhiki soon attacked the vessel. Krekka was ejected mid-flight from the airship using a Kanoka of Teleportation, and Nidhiki was trapped under debris. The Toa then exited the airship using the flight-enabling abilities of Vakama's Disk Launcher and Matau's Aero Slicers. The Visorak swarms destroyed all the airships located in Le-Metru when they invaded the city. As a result, the Toa Hordika and the Rahaga were forced to seek out the resources needed to build six airships for the purpose of transporting all of the sleeping Matoran of Metru Nui through a rift in the Great Barrier and onward to Mata Nui.

The airships used to transport the Matoran Spheres to Mata Nui were melted down upon arrival, and later used in the construction of the six Koro.

Design and Operation
Airships utilized a complex system of Levitation and Weight Increase Kanoka Disks. A Le-Matoran pilot controlled pulleys that caused either the Levitation or the Weight Increase Kanoka Disks to come into contact with the airship's framework, thus causing the airship to either rise or fall.

A small portion of a transport Chute, capped at both ends and containing highly-pressurized liquid Protodermis, was built into the back of the airship. The pilot was able to let small amounts of the Protodermis jet out of the back of the capped Chute, thus providing forward thrust.

Appearances

 * Comic 19: Enemies of Metru Nui
 * Comic 20: Struggle in the Sky
 * Comic 21: Dreams of Darkness (Mentioned Only)
 * BIONICLE 2: Legends of Metru Nui
 * BIONICLE Adventures 4: Legends of Metru Nui
 * Comic 23: Vengeance of the Visorak (Mentioned Only)
 * BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows
 * Dark Mirror (Alternate Universe)
 * Mata Nui Saga
 * BIONICLE Encyclopedia (Mentioned Only)
 * BIONICLE Encyclopedia: Updated (Mentioned Only)
 * BIONICLE: Quest for Keetongu (Mentioned Only)

Trivia

 * Because of the extremely high levels of training necessary to learn to operate an airship, Metru Nui airship pilots were greatly respected by other Matoran.