Pie in the sky? No, it’s an airship built in Yorkshire

IT’S not the first place you might associate with revolutionary developments in aviation, but South Yorkshire is where a fleet of eco-friendly airships are to be built.

Ten of the giant Airlander 10 machines will be assembled in a green aerospace manufacturing cluster in the county, creating 1,800 jobs.

Though they look rather like sleeker versions of the German Zeppelins that took to the skies more than a century ago, they are filled with helium rather than the highly flammable hydrogen.

Carrying 100 passengers at 90mph, the Airlander cannot compete with a jet aircraft in terms of speed and capacity.

But the secret to its potential success is the eco-friendly technology that means it will have a carbon footprint per passenger that’s less than a tenth of a jet. Ten of the £25million Airlanders are being built by Bedford-based Hybrid Air Vehicles under a deal with Spanish airline Air Nostrum. Production is to start this year, with delivery from 2026. Flying from Barcelona to Majorca could typically take four hours.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: ‘This agreement enhances the possibility of the revolutionary, Britishmade and designed aircraft flying across Spanish skies.’