Airship company Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) has released concept
images for the passenger cabins of its hybrid Airlander 10 aircraft which are due
to launch in 2025.
The company says the Airlander 10, colloquially known as the
“flying bum” due to its rounded, double-barrelled design, will be available in
a hybrid-electric configuration with up to 100 seats from 2025 and a fully
electric configuration by 2030.
The Airlander 10, which has a range of 750km, is intended
for short, inter-city hops such as Liverpool to Belfast and Oslo to Stockholm.
Inter-city transport represents 40 per cent of the forecast urban air mobility
market by 2050, equivalent to £36 billion, the company said.
George Land, HAV’s commercial business development director,
said, “For many decades flying from A to B has meant sitting in a metal tube
with tiny windows – a necessity but not always a pleasure. On Airlander, the
whole experience is pleasant, even enjoyable. And in the hybrid-electric and
future all-electric configurations, Airlander is fit for our decarbonised
future.”
HAV investors include Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson and German chemicals
billionaire Christoph Henkel.
HAV's Airlander 10