Aeroscraft airships to fly from North Africa to the Arctic- Air_Shipping

Aeroscraft airships to fly from North Africa to the Arctic

Source:aircargoweek 2013-12-23 9:53:00

Aeroscraft is developing variable-buoyancy cargo airships known as the Aeroscraft. Test flights of a crewed 81-metre long half-scale version, called Dragon Dream, took place in September. The study with Cargolux will examine standard container transportation and how a service could be intermodal. Cargolux could become a launch partner for Aeroscraft's ML866, which can carry 59 tonnes, and the ML868 models, which can lift 226 tonnes.These airships can take-off and land vertically with International Organization for Standardization containers and outsized cargo. Aeroscraft also claims its airships are more fuel efficiently than other forms of transport.Cargolux's interim president and chief executive officer, Richard Forson, says: "Cargolux is pleased to sign this memorandum of understanding with Aeros and excited to further explore client solutions surrounding the introduction of this innovative new type of aircraft." In 2012, the company carried 646,000 tonnes on its network covering 50 countries. The airline operates a fleet that includes 11 Boeing 747-400F and six 747-8F.The first Aeroscraft could be operational in two years time in 2016. Aeroscraft tells Air Cargo Week: "we expect to have the first vehicle type certified by the [Federal Aviation Administration] in [fiscal year] 2016, and to have the initial fleet of 22 deployed in 2020 to 2021."The fleet of 22 airships will include the ML866, which has a range of up to 5,741 kilometres and the ML868 that can fly for 9,260 kilometres. This fleet will operate on an Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) wet lease model.Aeroscraft has another potential launch partner in Icelandair Cargo. In November, Aeroscraft and Icelandair Cargo announced they would establish a partnership for an arctic-circle airfreight service. Iceland's northern Atlantic location, on the edge of the arctic-circle, means it is a gateway to areas surrounding the North Pole, including Nordic Europe, Northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Siberia and other Russian territories. For the oil and gas, minerals and other natural resource industries, Aeroscraft will transport equipment and goods to and from the polar region; where there are few or no roads, runways or ports.Aerocraft's variable buoyancy technology involves the pumping and compression of helium within and between what the company calls, "helium pressure envelopes". This removes the need to take-on and drop ballast, which would be needed for airships to land and take-off.

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Aeroscraft airships to fly from North Africa to the Arctic