It's more like the helium shortage made the existing operation unprofitable, and they needed to increase revenue to stay in operation. Also, during the recession, $400 sightseeing trips didn't sell well.

Airships leak helium. A lot. You can't just inflate the thing once; it needs constant refilling. I met the CEO once at a steampunk convention, before the shutdown. The price of helium was starting to hurt, but hadn't killed them yet. Their two biggest expenses were labor and helium. Fuel cost was relatively small.