







ISOPOLAR AIRSHIPS
Encouraging the development of airship technology for sustainable transportation and logistics applications in northern latitudes.Welcome to ISO Polar Airships, a not-for-profit organization, that was founded in 2005 to encourage the use of cargo airships in Northern Canada. Like many new ideas, the rebirth of airship technology was met with skepticism and doubt. This seems to be changing as airship activity expands around the world and the need to access remote areas increases.
The economic impact of logistical challenges in the Northern latitudes is not much different in other remote areas in the topics or elsewhere. The cost of food, housing and just about everything else is three times higher than in urban areas because of infrastructure gaps. Cargo airships can provide a sustainable solution for the remote areas world-wide that reduces transportation costs and creates opportunities for economic development.
Climate change increases the need to embrace green technologies like airships. Unreliable ice roads and melting permafrost threaten land-based connections to remote communities. In other parts of the world, rising sea levels threaten coastal and island nations. Cargo airships are an appropriate green transportation technology to meet the needs of the 21st century.
What goes around comes around. Like windmills and electric cars, giant dirigibles were a used commercially in the 1930s. All three were replaced by cheaper fossil fuel competitors. Coal-fired electrical power plants replaced the windmills, gasoline-powered cars replaced electric cars, and kerosene-burning jet airplanes replaced the dirigibles. Science and engineering have turned the tables on carbon-based technologies. Electric cars and wind turbines are two of the fastest growing industries, and in some countries, their use is being mandated. It is only a matter of time before cargo airships experience a similar market renaissance because they can offer lower costs than competing airplanes and potentially zero carbon emissions.
ISO Polar serves as a clearinghouse to exchange information and to sponsor public events where new airship developments can be assessed. The organization also serves as a collective voice of the airship community to seek the cooperation and partnership with governments and supply chain participants.

LATEST AIRSHIP NEWS
Advocates see Thompson as a place to test airships’ cold-weather performance
A University of Manitoba professor has worked for more than 20 years trying to prove the viability of lighter-than-air vehicles as cargo-delivering workhorses in Northern Manitoba and other regions where there are remote communities with limited transportation options. Ian Graham ~ Thompson Citizen / Nickel Belt News A local cold-weather testing booster and a long-time […]
The Coming Giant Airship Renaissance: An Investment Opportunity, Part 1
After decades of disappointment, the freight and passenger airship industry may finally be approaching takeoff. At the time of writing, here is the latest news. Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), in Great Britain, has a buyer for its Airlander 10 hybrid airship. The Spanish airline Air Nostrum wants to buy ten of them. HAV built a prototype […]
Québec investit 55 millions dans des dirigeables géants
Québec investit 55 millions de dollars dans un projet audacieux de transport de machinerie lourde dans le Grand Nord québécois. ANDRÉ DUBUC ~ LA PRESSE Par l’intermédiaire d’Investissement Québec (IQ), la province injecte 25 millions d’euros dans le capital-actions de Flying Whales et 15 millions d’euros dans celui de sa filiale Les dirigeables Flying Whales […]
El primer estratopuerto de España se ubicará en Teruel y creará 600 empleos
Por DIARIO DE ZARAGOZA – Zaragoza El presidente de Aragón, Javier Lambán, y el presidente de Sceye, Mikkel Vestergaard, han anunciado la instalación en el aeropuerto de Teruel del primer estratopuerto de España y de los primeros de Europa, desde el que operarán aeronaves estratosféricas, aquellas que actúan a unos 20 kilómetros de la Tierra, […]
The giant hangar poised for an aviation revolution
Airships could offer a much cleaner and quieter alternative for some aspects of the aviation market. In a former airship factory, a new generation are taking shape. By Mark Piesing ~ BBC.com Sergey Brin turned internet search into one of the world’s most valuable businesses more than two decades ago. Now he intends to improve […]