HAV’s Airlander project being scaled up into production
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), a UK-based leader in sustainable aircraft technologies, is scaling up work on its pioneering hybrid aircraft – Airlander 10 – to bring the model into production,…
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), a UK-based leader in sustainable aircraft technologies, is scaling up work on its pioneering hybrid aircraft – Airlander 10 – to bring the model into production, said Tom Grundy, the company’s chief executive officer.
Speaking at the Sustainable Skies World Summit, Grundy said: “We’re at a really exciting moment. We are through the research and development phase with Airlander. We’re now working to scale up into production. It will be a UK based production of this new aircraft, green exports to the world and new green aviation jobs in the north of England.”
Airlander 10
The technology at the heart of the Airlander 10 creates significant efficiency in flight. With four combustion engines, the standard Airlander 10 will deliver up to 75% reduction in emissions over comparable aircraft in a wide range of roles.
Grundy explained: “We have Airlander available with 100 seats, to travel on those short journeys, where regional jets are really actually not the most efficient way of getting around the place. There are a lot of parts of the world where our options are to go for flights or otherwise go over the surface, go on a ferry or so on.
“With Airlander and with the work we’re doing in Spain, we’re demonstrating how the journey time for the consumer can be much the same as the flight. The price can be right. And we can get people to their destinations with only 10% the emissions of original jet flight.”
Use cases
The aircraft has multiple use cases, from traditional passenger transport to defence applications.
Grundy added: “Airlander is designed around three real uses. One is the passenger transport over those shorter distances where aircraft speed is less of a premium. Second is logistics. So moving things around the world and we’re doing some great work up in Scotland with Highlands and Islands Airport, Loganair and others on passenger and logistics transport around that region at the moment.
“And then the third area is in communications and surveillance, so more defence applications. We’re working with the United States Department of Defence and others on showing how Airlander could be a game changer in that role as well.”
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