Airlander is taking a major step towards decarbonizing air travel, supported by its partnership with infrastructure consulting firm AECOM. The partnership with AECOM, announced in 2022, was designed to provide consulting and advisory services for cost and carbon benchmarking, sustainability development, master planning, construction program management, and scheme delivery, centred around the facilities needs of Airlander production and of Airlander customers.
Nearly one year into our work together, AECOM is providing highly professional and skilled individuals and teams to numerous projects, along with values and a business culture that match well with HAV's. Together, we are bringing certainty to customers that Airlander's integration with existing transport systems and to services in remote locations will be seamless, allowing full and free access to Airlander's value proposition.
We are also working together to plan and de-risk the aircraft production programme, particularly the facilities needed for aircraft assembly. With over 1,200 highly skilled, highly paid jobs expected to be created across manufacturing, production, certification, and supporting functions in iconic buildings totalling over a million square feet, the production site will be the centrepiece of a new green aircraft manufacturing cluster.
AECOM is supporting the development of the production site through master planning, schedule development, statutory planning considerations, site due diligence activities, cost estimating, and supply chain engagement. Moreover, the consulting firm's technical competence and strategic motivation will help HAV in delivering on its ambition of ensuring the construction and operations are environmentally friendly.
We fully expect it to attract inward investment from the Airlander supply chain as well, as supporting work becomes co-located with aircraft assembly. The production facility for the world's most sustainable large aircraft could be the centre of a prosperous hub of sustainable manufacturing in a region with massive growth potential.
George Land, HAV's Executive Director of Sales, visited Air Nostrum in Valencia, Spain, to gain insights on their take on airline operations now and in the future. Returning to the UK, George highlighted the trend in European airlines to subcontract regional air services to large 'production centres’ like Air Nostrum. This trend has seen Air Nostrum achieve significant success due to its high level of professionalism and recognised expertise in refining costs and despatch reliability to a fine point. Air Nostrum is expanding accordingly, indicating a promising future for Airlander.
George’s own CV includes aircraft leasing and leadership of major component supply businesses to the aircraft OEM market, so he and his team inherently understand the importance of customer support in aircraft operations. Now armed with the latest insights into modern maintenance, operations, training and support being put into practice by Air Nostrum, the HAV team are laying the foundations in Airlander's design to offer a level of support that meets customer requirements at an affordable price. Airlander’s systems are in many respects simpler than traditional aircraft: it does not need hydraulic systems or cabin pressurisation, for example, and it operates with lower load levels. This eases the maintenance burden, and HAV’s work on the prototype Airlander 10 pioneered many of the maintenance techniques that will be used in service. However there is always more to learn, and blending in Air Nostrum’s expertise in highly efficient fleet operations will yield benefits for all Airlander customers.
