HAV receives approval for commercial production of Airlander 10

Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) has received production organisation approval from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to start the commercial manufacturing and assembly of its Airlander 10 aircraft.

The approval allows HAV to manufacture the Airlander 10 on the basis of the aircraft’s prototype previously developed by the company.

HAV said that it will discontinue further production of the prototype, which completed its final testing phase.

A combination of plane and airship, the Airlander 10 is the world’s longest aircraft.

Last October, the aircraft secured design organisation approval (DOA) from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The DOA covers the design and flight test activities of the Airlander 10.

HAV aviation safety and quality assurance head David Lindley said: “The POA is the regulator’s stamp of approval for us to move ahead with the productionisation of the Airlander 10 on the path to type certification.”

Last June, HAV shifted to its production facility, the Airlander Technology Centre to continue with the production of Airlander 10.

The Airlander 10 prototype took its maiden flight in August 2016.

However, the aircraft collapsed and deflated into the ground in November 2017 after it broke loose from its mooring mast at an airfield in Bedfordshire, UK.

HAV aims to fly the Airlander 10 in service with the customers by 2020s. The company has already received orders from both organisations and individual operators for the hybrid aircraft.