24.06.2026
Jonathan Sumner has joined HAV as our new Passenger Markets Director. With a background spanning airlines, private aviation, and emerging mobility ventures, Jonathan brings a broad perspective on changing passenger expectations and where Airlander fits in the market. In this Q&A, he shares his insights on the evolution of passenger markets and the opportunities ahead.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
My background spans aviation and aerospace, with additional experience in software as a service, climate change technologies, and marketing services. In other words, I have a pretty varied background.
I spent around 10 years in the airline sector with United Airlines, Star Alliance and Delta Air Lines, before moving into a more entrepreneurial career working with a series of start-ups and new ventures. This included work with air taxi pioneer Farnborough Aircraft, private aviation platform FlyVictor, and Earth-i, where I worked on satellite data solutions.
A defining moment came whilst working with smallholder coffee farmers in East Africa, using satellite-based data analytics to help them combat the impact of climate change on their crops and their communities. Since then, I have combined my passion for all things aviation with a new passion for tackling climate change.
More recently, I spent nearly four years in India and the Middle East with JetSetGo as Chief Strategy Officer, working on growth strategy and advanced air mobility. Across my career, my focus has increasingly been on how aviation can decarbonise and become a force for positive change.
What is your role at Hybrid Air Vehicles?
My role as Passenger Markets Director within HAV’s commercial team is focused on understanding global passenger markets, building new customer opportunities for Airlander, and supporting the sale of Airlander into markets where it will transform regional connectivity and offer new passenger experiences. To date, these markets have already generated the majority of current aircraft reservations for the Airlander 10.
The passenger opportunity spans two major market sectors: Eco-tourism and Regional passenger transport. Airlander brings a unique set of capabilities and solutions across both sectors, and given its unique operating characteristics and economics, I believe it will be a game-changer in these markets. In both markets I am building upon the existing customer relationships we have with the likes of Air Nostrum and Grands Espaces.
My focus is on identifying clear use cases, developing the right value propositions around those use cases, and engaging with operators and businesses where there is a strong commercial and scalable fit.
Why do you think eco-tourism operators are well placed to lead the adoption of new transport concepts?
Many new destinations and the operators that serve them are creating products and services that are much more sensitive to the destination and the local culture. For them, sustainability is also about the sustainability of their business model and its local impact as well as addressing environmental impact and climate change.
For eco-tourism operators, the focus is on delivering experiential products at a premium price, which typically means lower volumes of travellers with a lighter footprint, and a greater sensitivity to the local area and populations. That works for the operator and the destination, and in that way, eco-tourism remains a partnership rather than an intrusion.
For Airlander, there is an obvious fit. We can deliver on both lowering emissions for cleaner aviation, and lowering operational impact with a slower, quieter aircraft that has the ability to operate without fixed infrastructure. This is similar to next generation electric aircraft that offer low or no carbon emissions and much less noise than conventional helicopters and aircraft designs. However, Airlander’s much larger payload and less intense flight patterns make for a more viable low-impact business model for experiential travel.
How do you see Airlander fitting into regional transport markets and emerging tourism markets?
Airlander 10’s unique operational profile and in-flight experience are a game-changer in both eco-tourism and regional passenger transport.
In the eco-tourism sector, Airlander 10 will unlock a variety of use cases, from aerial sightseeing to air cruising and experiential travel tours into previously hard-to-reach sites. Tour operators and cruise lines will be able to create completely new and aspirational leisure products using Airlander 10, and all with the assurance of a much more sustainable way to fly.
In the regional passenger transport sector, I am excited about Airlander 10’s ability to rethink the skies by enabling new business models through its unique combination of high payload, large number of seats (up to 130), high cycle rates, and exceptional endurance. Its ability to fly in and out of smaller airfields with minimal infrastructure, whilst also carrying a higher payload, brings a unique ability to open new networks of regional routes and an ability to aggregate demand to make regional air mobility accessible and affordable.
Our plan is to move to hydrogen-electric versions of Airlander 10 as soon as practicable. The characteristics of Airlander 10 allow us to do this sooner than other large aircraft. Customers in this sector know that they are buying into a product with a zero carbon future.
What are you most looking forward to working on in the next 12 months?
I’m most looking forward to identifying new prospects in major global markets.
Whilst responses will vary across different markets and operators, I believe that all will share that realisation that Airlander brings a truly unique and flexible solution that creates new possibilities, well beyond the reach of conventional aircraft or the majority of future AAM designs.
In addition to those outward-facing moments, I really look forward to working with the talented and visionary group of engineers we have at HAV. They have created an exceptional design that creates a new category of aircraft. As the interface with passenger markets, I look forward to making my own contribution to bringing this new aircraft to market.