(ORDO NEWS) — Caring for the environment is a trend of recent decades. This is how the Spanish airline Air Nostrum Group found a way to reduce its carbon footprint. They decided to abandon the aircraft in favor of hybrid airships.
The company has already completed orders for 10 aircraft from the manufacturer – the British Hybrid Air Vehicles. It is planned to launch the service of commercial flights on airships by 2026.
The length of the routes will be up to 425 kilometers, and the carrying capacity of one airship will be up to 100 passengers.
In the past six months, both companies have been conducting a series of studies on the use of airships on the domestic routes of Spain.
Already at the first stage of the partnership, the companies plan to organize flights throughout the country, and then they will gradually expand the Air Nostrum fleet. In some areas, airships will completely replace jet and turboprop aircraft, in others they will complement them.
It really is more environmentally friendly than airplanes
Flights with Airlander will reduce CO2 emissions by 90% compared to conventional aircraft. Of course, in this case there is a minus, because flying on an airship will be much longer than using an airplane.
Air Nostrum President Carlos Bertomeu said that Air Nostrum aims to emulate EU climate initiatives, therefore aiming for carbon zero by 2050.
According to the entrepreneur, Air Nostrum has enough resources to decarbonize its activities without compromising business and customers.
Now the company operates more than 70,000 scheduled flights a year and transports more than 4.7 million passengers throughout Spain.
Features of airships Airlander
– Airlander airships have a helium-filled fabric hull for lift, composite construction and a pair of diesel generators. The latter drive two more electric motors with a total power of 500 kW.
– This hybrid platform provides airships with acceleration up to 138 km/h and a cruising range of 425 km.
– The Airlander will have up to 100 seats for passengers.
– A flight of 400 kilometers will take passengers about 3 hours instead of the usual 40-60 minutes, but they simply will not have a choice in a number of directions.
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