Some of these next-generation LTAs might even be used for human transportation. Hybrid Air Vehicles, a British company that’s raised more than £100 million ($125 million), plans to use its Airlander 10 ship to transport people on less-served and rural routes. Powered by internal combustion, the Hybrid Air vehicle also takes advantage of tech found in lighter-than-air vehicles by using helium to create buoyancy. Though its top speed is just 130 kilometers per hour, the company says its aircraft can compete with airplanes on shorter routes, in part because of quicker takeoff and landing times. Another fundamental difference is that “you can take off on land from anywhere reasonably flat,” says CEO Tom Grundy. “In particular, areas that are not well served by existing transport.”
These startups will have to overcome long-standing safety concerns, and LTA vehicles may be more difficult to fly in bad weather, says James Flaten, a University of Minnesota professor of aerospace mechanics. Still, most of the vehicles used today use helium, not hydrogen—the flammable gas that brought the Hindenburg down. LTAs can also be designed so even if they did tear, they would leak very slowly, says Grundy.
It’s still early days for the big blimp boom. Though it’s secured some initial contracts, Hybrid Air Vehicles has only built a prototype, and its plans for a new 1,200-worker factory in the United Kingdom are just taking shape—the company eventually wants to build 24 aircraft a year. Sceye says its 13th flight will take place later in 2023.
For now, most LTA technology is still on the ground. On the flip side, though, there’s nowhere to go but up.