The Valencian company Air Nostrum has signed an agreement with the British company Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) to use the Airlander 10 airships with the aim of establishing a route between Barcelona and Palma.
The agreement is that the first zeppelin will be operational, after obtaining the certificate, in 2026, and HAV will continue to deliver units to Air Nostrum for the next five years until it reaches ten aircraft. The Airlander 10, with a capacity for ninety passengers, would become the largest commercial aircraft in the world, with ninety-one meters in length, thirty-four in width and a height equivalent to a ten-story building.
The president of Air Nostrum, Carlos Bertomeu , explains that the aim of this pioneering association is to "explore all avenues to reduce the carbon footprint" and that "the Airlander 10 will drastically reduce emissions." For his part, Hybrid Air Vehicles CEO Tom Grundy says production of the Airlander will begin this year and that "this will create thousands of jobs."
Barcelona-Palma in just over four hours
The total travel time between Barcelona and Palma by air is expected to be similar to that of commercial aircraft: just over four hours if you calculate the journey from city center to city center. However, the attraction of the zeppelin is that it pollutes much less.
The Airlander 10 produces only 8.6% of the CO> produced by an aircraft. The zeppelin emits 4.54 kg of CO2 per passenger and the plane, 52.8. In addition, HAV’s goal is for the hybrid-electric motors it uses now to become fully electric by 2030, which would provide emissions-free travel.
Similarly, compared to ferries , we find that there is a similar amount of CO2 per passenger, but the journey is done in half the time: four and a half hours instead of almost ten from the ship.
This zeppelin is mainly designed for short routes, despite having a range of 3,700 kilometers. Short routes are currently the most polluting journeys, and despite having a top speed of 130 km / h, the fact that you don't need a long runway to land and take off is an advantage. All you need is a reasonably flat surface, where the structure can be housed and little else. In addition, this would make it an alternative in places that do not have an airport or on islands.
Zeppelins lived through the golden age of the first three decades of the twentieth century, until the fire of the Hindenburg Airship in 1937. Since then, they have played a secondary role in the world of transportation, with applications especially in the advertising, but not in the transport of goods or passengers. However, in a few years everything could change and return to the sky as they did a century ago.