The Airlander 50 Development Partner Programme aims to understand the requirements of its future customers and use the regular insights and feedback from partners to shape and inform its conceptual design. Lead partners include infrastructure consultants AECOM and Blue Skies Holdings, which operates in Africa to produce fruit based products for European retailers. A spokesperson from Blue Skies Holdings said Airlander as it will enable the business to move raw materials from farms to factories with greater efficiency and with a vastly reduced carbon footprint.
In a statement, George Land, commercial business development director of Hybrid Air Vehicles said: “Airlander 50 will be the next member of the Airlander family of aircraft that follows Airlander 10. Today we are very pleased to be launching the Development Partner Programme for this aircraft, enabling us to refine its specification using real world use cases and feedback from a diverse set of potential customer, operator and infrastructure partners.”
Airlander 50 will be able to carry a payload of 50-60 tonnes, and cargoes as large as six ISO shipping containers. According to HAV, these capabilities – plus a 2,200km range at maximum payload - mean Airlander 50 will offer more available payload volume per unit weight compared to other aircraft, enabling it to transport outsize items such as wind turbines or supplies to remote mines.
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Once airborne, the aircraft will be able to move cargo or people point-to-point with minimal infrastructure, enabling users to bypass congested infrastructure such as ports, connect services to underserved locations, and avoid intermodal steps that currently interrupt journeys by sea, road and rail.
Colin Wood, AECOM chief executive for Europe and India said: “The technology and design intelligence to enable low carbon aviation is moving at a rapid pace and it is through collaboration that we can innovate to bring impactful solutions to market quickly. We have committed to reducing carbon emissions as part of our Sustainable Legacies strategy and this Development Partner Programme brings the opportunity to shape and support delivery of the Airlander 50, which is a hugely important project in the drive to reduce carbon emissions from the freight transportation sector.”
HAV’s hybrid aircraft rely on a combination of buoyant lift from helium like an airship, aerodynamic lift like an aeroplane and vectored thrust like a helicopter.
Today’s news follows HAV’s announcement in June 2022 that Air Nostrum Group is to become the launch customer for the company’s Airlander 10 following a reservation agreement for 10 100-seat hybrid aircraft.
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