THE world's largest aircraft dubbed the "flying bum" finally has a take off date, with tourist trips to Spain and the Arctic already planned. The project has already cost £140 million and suffered a crash landing, but the airborne giant is now on the brink of full production and could be ferrying people through the skies by 2029.
![[Airlander airship over coastal town.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/landscape-future-zero-carbon-aviation-856325914.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The 302 foot-long Airlander 10 is a hybrid between a plane and an airship - and is touted as the world's most efficient large aircraft. It is filled with helium for buoyancy and will float through the skies at 130km/h, powered by diesel engine propellers.
![[Illustration of an Airlander cabin lounge.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/18eae972-a395-43b4-93de-5e6ca243fd1f.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The blimp will treat passengers to a luxury experience, complete with en-suite bedrooms, fine dining and "horizon-to-horizon" views. A factory in Doncaster has been lined up to produce 24 of the gigantic vehicles every year - which will create 1,200 jobs for the city and whopping annual sales of £1.2 billion.
![[Illustration of an Air Nostrum Airlander cabin over a coastal landscape.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2022-air-nostrum-airlander-cabin-856325881.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The company behind the project, Hybrid Air Vehicles, boasts the Airlander will "transform what aircraft can do". But before the project can properly take off, hundreds of millions of pounds must be raised to keep the company afloat. HAV thinks it will need an eye-watering £300 million over the next few years to break even.
![[Illustration of an Airlander cabin interior concept.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2020-cabin-interior-concept-future-856325922.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Tom Grundy, the CEO, said “We’re done prototyping. The next step is multiple aircraft going through production. “The sort of thing air taxis are going through now, we’ve put behind us.”. The plane's "flying bum" nickname comes from its distinctive swollen rear end.
![[Illustration of an Airlander cabin bar.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/da5ef6d8-a863-4f80-9843-db56ac083269.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
