Hybrid Air Vehicles has been examining how its Airlander 10 airship could play a role in the future of air cargo.
Cargo is playing an increasingly important role in the future development of the airship market, according to UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV).
HAV commercial business development director George Land explains that a recent ramp up in environmental focus has led to increasing interest in airships as a way to decarbonise aviation.
He says that HAV recently scored an order for 10 of its Airlander 10 aircraft – later expanded to 20 – from Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum as it looked at ways to reduce its environmental impact.
Land says that regional airlines will come under greater scrutiny to decarbonise their transport operation because it is easier to do so in this sector than on international flights.
Meanwhile, regional airlines will also face greater competition from overland transportation.
He adds that on some of the shorter sectors operated by Air Nostrum, which can be under an hour, there would be only a small difference in timings when using an airship.
HAV has also examined new potential cargo use cases for its 10-tonne capacity airship related to emissions reduction.
“That was a big lead into a new market - decarbonisation of aviation,” says Land. “And it doesn’t just apply to the passenger market, the freight market is equally interesting for decarbonisation point of view.
“The freight market is a little bit more sophisticated than the passenger market because decarbonisation extends not just to the replacement of existing aircraft on a like for like basis, which is what we did with Air Nostrum, but it is actually about how can you change the logistics infrastructure and the way things are routed to move away from any carbon emitting mode of transport, such as trucks or ferries.”
Airship benefits
With this in mind, HAV last year launched a project with a variety of stakeholders in Scotland to look at the practicalities of using the Airlander in areas with minimal transport infrastructure.
“We looked at the technical compatibility of the aircraft - can it take off there, with what payload, with what wind restrictions etc., and we had a very good outcome,” he says.
“We established that we could get very high dispatch reliability even from some very small airfields, for example in Orkney, where at the moment they are operating 10 seat aircraft with a mixture of passenger and very small loads.
“That was great because it showed that the aircraft can work in that environment and that the theoretical case for expanding both passenger and cargo services into areas where there is very poor infrastructure without having to spend very much money at all, was there.”
The Airlander 10 needs a 600 m space – whether on land or water - for take off and landing at maximum capacity.
It can operate in a smaller space, but the payload would need to be degraded for it to work without wind.
In terms of infrastructure on the ground, at base the airship needs a mast that it can be attached to. However, the mast is not needed when picking up and dropping off cargo.
“You don’t really need the mast in the day when the aircraft is operating because the aircraft is heavier than air - one of the technical differences between this and traditional airships - so it will sit on the ground,” explains Land.
He adds: “For cargo applications you will need fairly standard cargo handling equipment, but there is no need for runways, you just need a flat surface - sand, dirt or tarmac.”
Seafood potential
HAV has also been working with the transport policy agency for the north of Scotland, Hightrans, on the economic use case for six of the aircraft.
Hightrans has reserved the aircraft and will work with HAV to develop a business case for their use, which will then be sold to a private business.
Part of the focus for the aircraft will be on their use to transport high-value cargo, mainly seafood, from the north of Scotland to mainland Europe.
“The challenge for the big shellfish companies in the western isles is getting stuff to market,” says Land.
“At the moment, it is mainly done by trucks but they are limited by the fact that even with the shellfish being kept alive in filtered water, inevitably many die in transit. So, speed to market is really important.”
Land admits that on a pure costs per mile basis, the 10 tonne Airlander wouldn’t be able to compete with trucking. The Airlander’s value comes from being able to maintain quality and offering less product loss during transport.
“If you are talking about high-value cargo then the cost per tonne km no longer becomes a big consideration, it is about getting that cargo quickly into the market.
“So, something with a slightly higher cost per tonne km, which the Airlander 10 generates, is competitive providing we can do something that breaks the current logistics setup.”
As well as developing use cases for the aircraft, HAV has also been working on the development of a production site.
In March, the company reached an agreement with the City of Doncaster in the UK for the development of a production site for its Airlander 10 airship.
The 50 ha site is located at Carcroft Common and will be acquired by HAV under a freehold agreement.
HAV has been developing its planning application for the site, working with the local community and other stakeholders as part of the planning and preparation process.
As well as production, the facility will also provide testing and certification operations. It will be capable of producing 24 aircraft per year.
And in July, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore financing opportunities with the South Yorkshire Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas development Fund to invest in the Airlander production facility.
Gaining certification
In late January, HAV also launched its type certificate application with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
“It is a journey of discovery for the CAA as well as us, but they are very excited about certifying an aircraft to a new certification code because there hasn’t been a modern airship certified,” says Land.
Looking to the future, the company also has plans for a 50 tonne capacity Airlander and Land says this model would be a dedicated cargo airship and have plenty of applications for cargo transportation – particularly for outsize cargo needed in hard to reach areas.
Two year ago, HAV launched the Airlander 50 partners programme that brought together various stakeholders to examine potential use cases.
“We have learnt a lot from that programme,” he says. “There are diverse applications for a larger Airlander.
“Mainstream logistics is one. The cost per tonne km would be somewhere between landfreight and airfreight and you could bypass existing port infrastructure, potentially allowing economic development into areas without needing to spend a lot of money on new infrastructure, so particularly in developing countries where you want to expand the economic base without needing to put in a big port.”
For outsize cargo, wind turbines have huge potential for the Airlander.
Land explains that turbines are getting larger in size but that creates the issue of how to transport them.
However, targeting this market could involve extending the size of the Airlander 50, developing new loading capability and also more complex systems would be needed compared with the Airlander 10.
“If you need to make an aircraft that can hover, deliver loads to a pin point, that is a different proposition [to the rolling take off/landing of the Airlander 10],” he explains.
“The question is, can we do that, how big is that market - and it looks like it is bigger than we thought - and then what technical capabilities does the aircraft need to have to be able to make that work.
“But that is a very promising market and looks like it is one that is growing in every sense of the word.
“There are not that many other technical solutions for being able to get those components in situ. Even if you have a road, the size of the turbines means they are just too big.”
Military logistics is another area of interest for HAV. It has already been working with the US military to look at how the aircraft could benefit military operations due to its ability to land on multiple terrains and use of minimal fuel – key considerations for military logistics operations.
https://www.aircargonews.net/technology/another-step-towards-the-launch-of-the-airlander-10-airship/
