Flying Whales
Airships once ruled the skies -- and now, a century after their golden age, the floating giants are making a comeback. Flying Whales, a company based in France and Canada, is planning to build a 656-foot (200-meter) long helium-lift and hybrid-electric propulsion airship, like the one pictured in this render, that can carry up to 60 tons of cargo. And they're not the only ones hoping to revive this old technology. Look through the gallery to learn more about the new generation of airships soaring into the future.
Flying Whales
Flying Whales' says its airships could transport heavy, bulky cargo, such as wind turbines or construction materials, to remote locations that don't have roads, railways or airports connecting them to the global supply chain. This can help to reduce emissions and the environmental impact associated with building infrastructure, and it's a key motivator to bring back the old technology.
Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Airships have been around for over 150 years, and gained popularity in the early 1900s ferrying passengers and cargo across land and ocean. In this picture, US Navy airship Macon flies above New York City in 1933. However, as airplanes became faster and more advanced, airships began to fall out of favor.
Central Press/The Image Bank RF
Airships at this time had a terrible track record for safety, with many crashing in storms or bursting into flames. The British R101 airship, pictured here at its hangar at Cardington in southern England, was destroyed in an accident in 1930, killing 48 passengers and crew members. Seven years later, the Hindenburg Disaster, killed 36 people. Airship use was already in decline, but the tragedy officially ended of the golden age of airships.
Michael Madrid/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters
For the past 90 years, most of the airships floating across the skies have been advertising vessels -- like the Goodyear Blimp, pictured here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2022.
Courtesy Darren Harbar/Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd
Airships have low-emissions and minimal impact on landscapes because they don't require infrastructure on the ground, which is why companies like UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) are eager to bring them back. HAV is developing a hybrid aircraft that uses helium lifting gas in an inflatable hull, combined with airplane technology for thrust. The Airlander 10, pictured here at Cardington Airfield, took its first flight in 2016.
Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd
Airlander 10 is expected to enter service in 2026, carrying passengers on short-haul routes, says Tom Grundy, CEO of HAV. He adds that it's a "sensible step" to scaling up for production of its second vessel the Airlander 50, capable of carrying up to 60 tons of cargo.
Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd
HAV expects this larger cargo aircraft to be in service by the early 2030s, and says it could help service remote areas, like the one pictured in this render. HAV is already working with the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Airports to explore how the Airlander 50 could provide a logistics solution for rural regions in Scotland. 
LTA Research
Another company working on airships is Lighter Than Air (LTA) Research. The company -- established by billionaire Google co-founder Sergey Brin -- is building a 400-foot airship, called Pathfinder 1, pictured here in its hangar at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California.
LTA Research
LTA Research is training pilots on an advanced flight simulator, pictured here. After the team finish conducting ground tests, LTA Research plans to fly the Pathfinder 1 in San Francisco's South Bay later this year.
H2 Clipper
While most modern airship companies use helium as a lifting gas others, such as H2 Clipper (whose airship is pictured in this render), are exploring hydrogen. Hydrogen is cheaper, has more lifting power, and is a renewable element, whereas helium is expensive and could run out.
H2 Clipper
One of the key challenges of using hydrogen is managing its flammability. Companies like H2 Clipper (pictured in this render) are using modern technology and materials to try to make the lifting gas safer.
Flying Whales
But, those opting for helium say that the volume needed for airships is minimal compared to the supply: for example, Flying Whales says one of its airships (pictured in this render) would use around 0.1% of annual helium production. The company, which raised €122 million ($130 million) in funding last year, is now focused on building its prototype, with its first test flight anticipated in 2025.
CNN  — 

The smooth, white underbelly of the airborne whale sails across the sky, casting a shadow across the forest below.

Other than its enormous size, though, this “whale” has very little to do with its animal namesake. It’s an airship, and French aeronautics company Flying Whales hopes its hybrid-electric, helium-lift vessel will change the shape of sustainable transport.

The airship could help solve the problem of how to transport cargo “when infrastructure is lacking, or just doesn’t exist at all,” says Romain Schlack, Flying Whales’ head of communications. “We are going to add new possibilities to global logistics, while overcoming obstacles and problems on the ground.”

Airship technology has been around for over 150 years and gained popularity in the early 1900s ferrying passengers and cargo across land and ocean.

But as airplanes became faster and more advanced, airships couldn’t keep up. Then, in 1937, an airship called the Hindenburg burst into flames, killing 36 people, firmly marking the end of the golden age of airships.

Now, nearly 90 years later, interest in the lighter-than-air transport is reviving. With low carbon emissions, and no requirement for expensive ground infrastructure like airports or roads, because they can load and unload cargo while hovering, airships could be a sustainable solution for logistics across the globe.

Remote deliveries

Flying Whales is developing a 200-meter-long airship that will be lifted by 14 cells filled with helium gas, and then propelled through the air by a hybrid-electric system powered with sustainable aviation fuel.

Flying Whales
Flying Whales' airships, pictured here in a render, could access remote locations without roads, railways or airports.

Carrying at least two crew members, the airships will be able to up to transport 60 tons of cargo – around the same as two to three freight trucks.

Schlack says the “flying whales” are designed to carry heavy, bulky items such as blades for wind turbines, logs collected from steep mountainsides, or construction materials being delivered to remote, isolated locations. Airships could also deliver food or aid after natural disasters, when railways or roads might be inaccessible.

Compared to helicopters, which are the go-to transport for remote cargo deliveries, Flying Whales claims its airships will produce less than 10% of the carbon emissions while operating – plus their freight system leaves wilderness and countryside untouched, while still connecting small, rural communities to the wider global supply chain.

Hydrogen versus helium

Flying Whales is not the only company trying to revive airships: other startups, such as LTA Research, backed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, are also exploring this low-impact transport solution.

But a key question facing manufacturers is which lighter-than-air gas to fill the balloons with: hydrogen or helium?

Hydrogen is cheap, renewable, and has more lifting power than helium. However, it’s highly flammable and has long been associated with devastating airship disasters like the Hindenburg.

That’s why most companies, including Flying Whales and LTA Research, are using helium, which is non-flammable.

LTA Research
San Francisco-based LTA Research is building its helium-lift airship, Pathfinder 1, inside facilities at Moffett Field in California (pictured).

However, helium is less buoyant than hydrogen and more expensive, with unstable prices: between 2011 and 2016, its price increased 250%, and in 2020, it was up to 67 times more expensive than hydrogen.

More importantly, though, the helium supply could run out.

At current usage rates, the American Chemical Society says it could go extinct within the next century. That’s a problem because helium is vitally important for a variety of industries. It’s used in medical equipment like MRI machines, and there is currently no alternative.

Barry Prentice, professor and former director of the transport Institute at the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, says that’s why it’s vital that airships start using hydrogen again.

Prentice is also the founder and president of BASI, a Manitoba-based company specializing in airships adapted for cold climates. The company is developing an airship that uses hydrogen for lift, in the hope that the Canadian government will relax its regulations on the use of hydrogen.

Advancements in science and technology over the last century have made the gas safer to use, says Prentice. For example, hydrogen is only flammable when mixed with air, something that might occur if there is a leak in the balloon – which is what’s suspected to have happened on the Hindenburg. Modern technology such as “hydrogen sniffers” which detect leaks can help manage this, says Prentice.

H2 Clipper
California-based company H2 Clipper is currently developing an airship (pictured here in a render) that uses hydrogen for lift.

And while the FAA lists hydrogen as an unsuitable lifting gas in its criteria for airship certification, the European Aviation Safety Agency updated its regulations in 2022, allowing any lifting gas, as long as the associated risks can adequately be addressed and mitigated by the design.

BASI is not the only organization pursuing hydrogen-lift airships: FlyWin, an airship design project based at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium is exploring materials and design to allow safe use of hydrogen, while hydrogen delivery company H2 Clipper is aiming to have its hydrogen-lift airship in commercial operation before 2030.

Those opting for helium say that the volume needed for airships is minimal compared to the supply. “Each airship will be filled with 180,000 cubic meters of helium,” says Schlack. With 160 million cubic meters produced globally in 2021, each airship would account for around 0.1% of annual helium production. “We are pretty confident in the supply for our aircrafts,” he says, adding that helium isn’t consumed by airships, but is “stored” in the balloons, and only requires small top ups from time to time.

Scaling up, up and away

Choice of gas isn’t the only challenge – scale is also an issue.

“There’s no such thing as a small airship,” says Prentice. Companies need to invest in giant workshop spaces, and prototypes need to be tested, altered, and re-tested successfully before a commercial production line can even be considered, he says.

Flying Whales plans to build its first hangar and assembly line next year in Laruscade, near Bordeaux, France, but other companies are getting ahead by using historic hangars.

LTA Research purchased Akron Airdock in Ohio, built in 1929, and leases Hangar Two at Moffett Field near San Francisco Bay in California, built in 1933. And UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) is making use of hangars at Cardington Airfield, in the south of England, which were used to build airships in the 1920s and 1930s.

Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd
The Airlander 10, a hybrid aircraft built by HAV, conducted its first voyage in 2016, and is pictured here during a test flight the following year.

Finding premises has given these companies a head start. LTA’s 400-foot (122-meter) long prototype is already floating inside its California hangar and HAV tested its first hybrid aircraft, the Airlander 10, in 2016.

Flying Whales expects to test its first airship at the end of 2025, with commercial operations beginning in 2027 once the airship is certified. Schlack says the company plans to rapidly scale up production after that. It has a second assembly line planned for Quebec and is searching for a partner in Asia to set up a third.

The company raised €122 million ($130 million) last year, which it will use to grow the teams at its offices in France and Canada, and is already discussing needs and requirements with prospective clients, ahead of launching its commercial services.

“Our goal is to have airships more or less everywhere,” says Schlack.

A previous version of this article stated that LTA Research owns Hangar One near San Francisco Bay. The company leases Hangar Two.