The futuristic airship that will fly to the Med by 2028

A new fleet of airships will hit the skies by 2028, with UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) revealing plans for a major new manufacturing facility in South Yorkshire.

The production centre in Doncaster is where the Airlander 10, described by HAV as the world’s “most efficient large aircraft”, will be developed (subject to planning permission). HAV will have the capability to produce up to 24 of the aircraft per year.

Ed Miliband, the MP for Doncaster North, said: “This is absolutely fantastic news. This new production site will create over 1,200 much-needed highly-skilled jobs… as well as bring green air travel a step closer.”

Despite appearances, the Airlander 10 is not a traditional airship but rather a “hybrid aircraft” reliant on buoyant lift from helium, aerodynamic lift from its shape, and vectoring engine power for take-off and landing. 

The Airlander 10 will have the capacity to carry 100 passengers (an average Boeing 737-800 carries 189) or 10 tons of payload, and the value of its order book currently stands in excess of £1 billion. The Spanish regional carrier Air Nostrum will be the first airline to put it into service, with a scheduled launch date of 2028 – two years later than originally planned.

When The Telegraph visited HAV’s Bedfordshire headquarters in 2023, the chief executive, Tom Grundy, said: “We’re working with Air Nostrum to create a network of city-to-city connections, much faster than a car, with 10 per cent of the carbon footprint of a flight, and affordable to the customer.”

Air Nostrum recently doubled its order to 20 ships, in a bid to expand its network from Spain into the Mediterranean and Malta. Potential routes include Malta to Gozo and Malta to Sicily. Other links to Italy and to Tunisia are in discussion. The Airlander 10 will have a top speed of around 100mph, closer to a car or train than a plane, meaning it is restricted in terms of how far it can travel without stopping. But reduced security protocols should speed up the boarding process. 

HAV has also been in talks with the Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Loganair to discuss developing A to B connections between Scottish islands. Possible destinations that could benefit from Airlander 10 services (both for passengers and freight) include Kirkwall, Papa Westray, Stornoway, Barra, Inverness, Sumburgh and Scapa Bay; viability surveys have been conducted in each of these locations

HAV has also had discussions with luxury tour operators to discuss the potential for safaris in the sky, or Northern Lights viewing experiences. One such company is Grands Espaces, an eco-tourism company which intends to use the Airlander for trips to the Arctic. For 25 years, the firm has operated polar exploration tours on small boats, and now plans to take passengers to the skies.

Christian Kempf, the founder of Grands Espaces, said: “We have worked for four years with HAV to prepare for this project and partnership. The signing of this reservation agreement is a significant step forward. We find in HAV the pioneering and innovative spirit that resonates with us, and we are confident that we will achieve great things together.”

While things are in motion now, the Airlander project got off to a rocky start. In 2016, the first prototype Airlander nosedived at low speed during a test flight from Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire, damaging part of the flight deck. This, and the fact that some said it resembled a “flying bum”, made national news, while the subsequent successful test flights did not attract as much attention.

In 2017, after a successful test flight, the Airlander broke free from its mooring mast, triggering a safety system, which ripped open and deflated the hull. As a result of the two accidents, HAV introduced new improvements to the design, including an air cushion landing system which allows the aircraft to land on any reasonably flat surface via six inflatable studs.