HAV

July saw the 2022 Farnborough International Airshow finally come around after a four-year hiatus, and it did not disappoint. Over the five days, the HAV stand was busy from show open to show close, despite the almost 40-degree heat some days!

Our motivations for attending the show are very varied, but virtually every department in the company derives some benefit. Conversations with potential financiers, existing and potential suppliers were incredibly useful, alongside the more obvious benefits of being able to focus a great deal of media and customer interaction in a short period.

Here are some of the highlights from our week at the show…

Announcement of the Airlander 50 development partner programme

At FIA22 we announced the Airlander 50 Development Partner Programme. The programme has been devised to bring together partners and future customers of Airlander 50 to understand their requirements and use their insights and feedback to shape and inform its conceptual design. The programme already has four members and is set to be joined by more. AECOM’s Global Market Sector Lead for Next Generation Energy, Jeff Woodward, joined us on our stand to sign the memorandum of understanding as AECOM joined the programme. We also announced Blue Skies Holdings, Infinergy, and Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd as programme members.

We were joined on the stand by a range of media who covered the story:

https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/news/hav-launches-airlander-50-development-partner-programme/

https://www.insidermedia.com/news/yorkshire/hav-launches-partner-programme-for-next-aircraft

Announcement of Chris Gear joining the advisory board

We kicked off the week joined on the stand by Chris Gear, as he joined our advisory board.

Chris joins us fresh from his most recent role at the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), the body in charge of developing and delivering the technology strategy for the UK aerospace sector, where he was the Project Director of Fly Zero, the ATI’s flagship project aiming to realise net zero- commercial aviation by. We are excited to welcome Chris to our growing advisory board as we work to deliver the future of zero-emissions aviation.

Joined by Air Nostrum on the stand

We were also pleased to be joined by Air Nostrum on our stand. Miguel Ángel Falcón Martín, Air Nostrum’s Managing Director and our CEO, Tom Grundy, joined multiple joint interviews with the media to talk about Air Nostrum Group’s recent reservation agreement for ten Airlander aircraft and the future of sustainable passenger transport.

You can read some of the interviews here:

https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/location/air-nostrum-outlines-hybrid-air-vehicle-plans

https://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/298380/air-nostrum-eyes-airportless-network-for-hybrid-airships/

Joined by our electric motors programme team – Collins Aerospace and the University of Nottingham

We also had the pleasure of hosting a press conference on our stand to highlight the progress of our programme to deliver electric motors for Airlander, alongside Collins Aerospace and the University of Nottingham. This press conference was a great opportunity for all three parties to come together and announce that we’ve produced the first working prototype of the 500 kilowatt electric motor.

We were delighted with the successes over the week for the whole team at HAV and for our partners.