THE world’s largest aircraft dubbed the “flying bum” finally has a take off date, with tourist trips to Spain and the Arctic already planned.
The project has already cost £140 million and suffered a crash landing, but the airborne giant is now on the brink of full production and could be ferrying people through the skies by 2029.
The 302 foot-long Airlander 10 is a hybrid between a plane and an airship – and is touted as the world’s most efficient large aircraft.
It is filled with helium for buoyancy and will float through the skies at 130km/h, powered by diesel engine propellers.
The blimp will treat passengers to a luxury experience, complete with en-suite bedrooms, fine dining and “horizon-to-horizon” views.
A factory in Doncaster has been lined up to produce 24 of the gigantic vehicles every year – which will create 1,200 jobs for the city and whopping annual sales of £1.2 billion.
The company behind the project, Hybrid Air Vehicles, boasts the Airlander will “transform what aircraft can do”.
But before the project can properly take off, hundreds of millions of pounds must be raised to keep the company afloat.
HAV thinks it will need an eye-watering £300 million over the next few years to break even.
Tom Grundy, the CEO, said “We’re done prototyping. The next step is multiple aircraft going through production.
“The sort of thing air taxis are going through now, we’ve put behind us.”
The plane’s “flying bum” nickname comes from its distinctive swollen rear end.
Its maiden flight was completed back in 2016 in Bedfordshire, but on its second outing the airship nose-dived into a field.
No one was injured in the accident, but the cockpit was destroyed and major repairs needed.
Since then, two huge inflatable “airbags” have been added, which are stowed during the flight and protect the cockpit on landing.
The ship will be able to fly through the skies for more than five days and can land on almost any surface – including “fields, tarmac or sea” – so does not rely on traditional airport infrastructure.
Almost £2 billion worth of the airships have already been reserved, including by the Spanish company Air Nostrum – one of Europe’s largest airlines.
The first flights are expected to happen in Spain, with tourist trips to the Arctic also on the horizon.
Grundy said his company’s efficient aircraft will offer a solution for the aviation industry, which faces huge government pressure to reduce its carbon footprint.
He said: “We’ve got a path to taking 75 to 90 per cent of the emissions out of flying.
“There’s nothing else out there that can do that so imminently.”
Commercial airship travel stopped in 1937 after the Hindenburg disaster, when 35 people were killed in a crash.
Grundy said: “There have been many years of trying and failing to make airships work commercially.
“Helium brings all sorts of problems and means an airship needs to be really big because it takes a lot of volume to do the job.
“Our platform can be smaller, and smaller generally means cheaper so we can address different markets.”
