The choice by UK-based leader sustainable aircraft technology company Hybrid Air Vehicles of South Yorkshire as the place from which to get a new kind of aircraft off the ground has moved a step closer with the signing of an aircraft reservation agreement with Air Nostrum, one of the largest regional airlines in Europe, for HAV’s pioneering Airlander 10 hybrid aircraft.
HAV is in advanced discussions with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Doncaster Council and other local and national stakeholders on plans to manufacture Airlander 10s within a new green aerospace manufacturing cluster in South Yorkshire.
Already the world’s most energy-efficient largest aircraft, and with further developments in electric propulsion underway, HAV expects that Airlander 10 will be the world’s first large scale aircraft to achieve zero-emissions flight.
Under a landmark partnership Air Nostrum Group has reserved ten 100-seat Airlander 10 aircraft for delivery from 2026 onwards, with a view to begin operations as launch airline.
While the Air Nostrum Airlander 10 fleet is set for initial operations across Spain, HAV plans to launch production of the aircraft in South Yorkshire this year, creating thousands of skilled jobs in green aerospace technologies and supporting levelling up across the region.
The reservation agreement follows six months of rigorous studies and modelling carried out by Air Nostrum Group and HAV into the operation of Airlander 10 on Spanish domestic aviation routes and the associated economics. Airlander 10 aircraft are expected to diversify and complement Air Nostrum Group’s existing aircraft fleet currently operating on these routes, carrying 100 passengers while producing only around one tenth of the emissions associated with conventional aircraft.
