Hybrid Air Vehicles has announced a concept study to explore the use case for introducing its Airlander 10 aircraft for passenger and freight transport across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
The study is supported by a consortium of organisations, including Highlands and Islands Airports, Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Orkney Island Council and Loganair.
It is expected that the study - which should take three months to complete - will seek to understand how the part-plane-part-airship could support sustainable mobility in the region.
Hybrid Air Vehicles is currently designing an all-electric variant of the Airlander which will be a zero-carbon emissions aircraft, scheduled to be operational by the end of the decade.
The study will compare emission reductions with existing transport options and assess the opportunities to operate at non-airport locations, taking advantage of the aircraft’s water operation capability.
The project will also consider Airlander’s potential to deliver freight with a combi-variant of the aircraft with a 10-tonne payload.
Plans to create a low-carbon aviation zone in the Highlands and Islands using drones and hybrid electric aircraft secured almost £9m in funding earlier this year.
Inglis Lyon, managing director at Highlands and Islands Airports, said: “Our aim is to become a net zero carbon regional airport group - to achieve this, we need to investigate innovative solutions for sustainable air travel.
“This collaboration allows us to explore the potential use of Airlander 10 as part of the region's transport network that provides essential and lifeline services to some of Scotland’s most remote regions.”
Tom Grundy, chief executive of Hybrid Air Vehicles, said: “This study will, I hope, pave the way for a revolution in green short-haul flights in this wonderful, if sometimes inaccessible, part of the world, boosting connectivity and the local economy as we do so.”
Ranald Robertson, partnership director at the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership, added: “Airlander offers an opportunity to provide low carbon transportation of passengers and freight with the potential to develop new routes where journey time savings can be realised on current modes of travel including road and ferry.“
The news follows Hybrid Air Vehicles’ recent announcement of its launch customer, Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum Group.
The Bedford-based company expects Airlander to be the first large scale aircraft - capable of carrying up to 100 passengers or 10 tonnes - to achieve zero emissions flight.
The production standard aircraft is expected to be in flight from 2023 and in service in 2026.
It previously carried out test flights in England using a prototype, which was the world's longest aircraft at 92m long. However, the prototype was retired in November 2017 after it broke free from its mooring, triggering a safety system which deflated the aircraft.
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