Actually, Airships are quite open to the public. The stipulation is that the airways are not. Anyone can ride one of the Highwind airships if they own a pass. The reason why the airways themselves are restricted is because of the empire, however. Due to a severe lack in airship technology compared to Garlemald, they simply cannot afford to have a heavy presence in the skies. The empire would have a field day shooting down all the airships, simply put.
That being said, I see nothing wrong with a player actually owning or piloting an airship so long as they both understand the risks and consequences, and have the requisite training and experience that would be required to even operate it, maintain it, and afford the incredibly expensive fuel. Not every player is going to have those, though, and most people that would go so far as to make the claim generally take the proper care in shaping their character beforehand.
For example, since 1.0 my character has been firmly rooted as a magitek engineer who works with the Garlond Ironworks. As such, he and one of his lifelong friends (Who is even more of a seasoned engineer than Merri) jointly own an airship. His reasoning for being able to take to the skies on specific occasions is simply because he's with the Ironworks.
Of course, that's canonically speaking. Not everyone follows canon, and that's fine. Everyone is entitled to play how they want. Just means you don't have to socialize with them if you so choose~
That being said, I see nothing wrong with a player actually owning or piloting an airship so long as they both understand the risks and consequences, and have the requisite training and experience that would be required to even operate it, maintain it, and afford the incredibly expensive fuel. Not every player is going to have those, though, and most people that would go so far as to make the claim generally take the proper care in shaping their character beforehand.
For example, since 1.0 my character has been firmly rooted as a magitek engineer who works with the Garlond Ironworks. As such, he and one of his lifelong friends (Who is even more of a seasoned engineer than Merri) jointly own an airship. His reasoning for being able to take to the skies on specific occasions is simply because he's with the Ironworks.
Of course, that's canonically speaking. Not everyone follows canon, and that's fine. Everyone is entitled to play how they want. Just means you don't have to socialize with them if you so choose~
![[Image: 7Ho5y7x.png]](http://i.imgur.com/7Ho5y7x.png)
