HAV prepares launch of even larger airship

One of the surprises on the first day of the Farnborough Air Show week has come from rather unexpected quarters.

If Hybrid Air Vehicles made headlines all over the world a mere few weeks ago with their announcement of the launch customer for their Airlander 10 airship, it is now the turn of an even larger blimp to be in the news.

The Airlander 50 will be the next iteration of HAV’s concept and, to give you an idea o the proportions, of the -10 has a payload of 10 tons, the -50 will get up to 60 tons!

Before you get too excited, what has been announced today is the set up of a partner programme which will bring together HAV and a number of other companies that have an interest in the successful completion of this programme.

Infrastructure consultancy firm AECOM, Highlands and Islands Airports, Infinergy, which is a Dutch renewable energy firm, and, interestingly, Blue Skies Holdings (a firm that specializes in…the tropical fruit business!) will all work together to make sure that the future Airlander 50 responds to the needs of the market.

One of the most promising applications for the Airlander 50, and one it will be optimized for, is that of transporting goods and merchandise in regions where there is limited land and airport infrastructure.

It is in this context that Blue Skies Holdings sees a lot of potential in the Airlander to support their fruit harvesting and transportation operations in West Africa.

Similarly, Infinergy is interested in Airlander’s capacity to transport cargoes to offshore wind farms.

To provide a visual illustration of what the Airlander 50 payload capacity will be like, think 6 full ISO shipping containers.