What are cargo airships and how would they move freight in the outback?
By Maddie Nixon, ABC News
Photo Credit: A conceptual rendering of Flying Whales’ 200-metre-long airship prototype LCA60T. (Supplied: Flying Whales)
Picture this.
You’re in the remote desert and a giant, oblong balloon, almost the length of three Airbus A380 aircraft, hovers overhead.
It descends toward the ground without the need for a runway or landing pad, cargo is emptied onto the surface below, the airship ascends as high as 3,000 metres and jets off into the outback horizon.
It may sound like a scene plucked from the mind of science fiction writer H.G. Wells, but that is what has been promised to the locals of Mount Isa in Queensland’s north-west.
What do we know so far?
Mount Isa, a remote city of about 18,000 people, is best known for its high-vis mining and cowboy hats.
But within four years it could be home to the first of six airship bases in Australia for moving freight around the country after the Mount Isa Regional council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with French-Canadian aeronautical group Flying Whales.
The council and the company are set to begin a technical feasibility study and business case with a view to developing the Mount Isa base by 2028.
Both the company and council are yet to confirm the cost of the proposed project.
If successful, it would join similar networks in France and Canada due to be completed in the same timeframe.
Flying Whales, a consortium of more than 50 partners including the French and Canadian governments, says the technology would revolutionise freight globally while addressing traditional large cargo issues including cost, environmental impact and logistics.
But is up to 60 tonnes of cargo, more than most trucks carry, strapped inside an airship flying thousands of metres up in the sky really where we’re headed in Australia?
Let’s take a look at how it would work, whether businesses would actually use it and if it’s as far-fetched an idea as you might think.
How would it work?
Flying Whales’ proposal, which has been 10 years in the making, is for 200-metre-long piloted airships to be stationed at six bases around the country.
The focus is on Mount Isa because at this stage it’s the only location that’s signed an MOU.
Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae announced the MOU as part of the town’s diversification strategy to combat the closure of the city’s copper mine in 2025.
The company’s CEO Sebastien Bougon said Mount Isa was the ideal location for its first base because of its proximity to large infrastructure projects in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
He said it could also be used in the remaining mining industry, as well as for essential cargo during weather emergencies.
Read original full article by Maddie Nixon:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-09/how-realistic-are-plans-for-cargo-airships-in-australian-outback/104571710