Eco-airship contracts to introduce 1,800 jobs in South Yorkshire
Around 1,800 jobs are to be created in South Yorkshire building 10 new eco-friendly airships.
A small Bedford-based company, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement to provide a Spanish airline with 10 of its 100-passenger Airlander 10 helium-filled airships.
The aircraft, which the company says will have under a tenth of the CO2 footprint per passenger of jets, will be built in a new green aerospace manufacturing cluster in South Yorkshire.
The business secretary, Quasi Quarteng, said the commissioning of the airliner showed the UK was at the forefront of “revolutionary” green aviation technology.
HAV’s futuristic Airlander 10 passenger transport with concept cabin interior design. Photo: Hybrid Air Vehicles
“Hybrid aircraft can play an important role as we transition to cleaner forms of aviation, and it is wonderful to see the UK at the forefront of technology development,” he said.
“This agreement enhances the possibility of the revolutionary, British-built and designed, Airlander 10 aircraft taking off in Spanish skies. It is further proof of how UK businesses are embracing new technology to accelerate growth and support highly skilled UK jobs. ,
The plane, which according to HAV will have a CO2 footprint of about 4.5kg per passenger compared to about 53kg on a jet plane, is expected to take to the skies in 2026 with Spanish carrier Air Nostrum.
Air Nostrum President Carlos Bertomeu said: “Airlander 10 will bring about a significant reduction in emissions and that is why we have entered into this agreement with HAV. Sustainability, which is good news for all, is already a factor in the daily operations of commercial aviation. non-negotiable fact.”
Possible routes for the ply of the 100-passenger Airlander 10 airship include Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca. Photo: Hybrid Air Vehicles
The airline, which currently operates flights to Iberia, did not say which routes it expected the airliner to operate. HAV previously said it expected a flight from Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca in four and a half hours.
HAV, which has in the past attracted funding from Russian goldminer Petropavlovsk founder Peter Hambro and Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson, has stated that its aircraft are “ideally ideal for inter-city mobility applications such as Liverpool to Belfast and Seattle to Vancouver”. The airliner that was suitable could serve with a small fraction of the emissions of current air options”.
HAV Chief Executive Tom Grundy said: “Airlander is designed to deliver a better future for sustainable aviation services, enable new transportation networks and provide rapid growth options for our customers. Launches for Airlander 10 As an airline, our partnership with Air Nostrum Group leads that future.
The craft was originally designed as a surveillance vehicle for intelligence missions in Afghanistan. HAV claims that independent estimates put the value of the airship market at $50bn (£41bn) over the next 20 years. It aims to sell 265 of its Airlander craft in that period.
The £25m Airlander 10 prototype made six test flights, some of which ended badly. It crashed on its second test flight in 2016, after a successful first voyage of 30 minutes. At the time: “The airliner suffered damage on landing during today’s flight. As reported, no damage was reported in mid-air or as a result of telegraph poles. ,
