Luxury Tourism with Corporate Social Responsibility
The huge potential of Indian market features strongly in world-scale projects in the early stages of designing, engineering and planning.
One such project demonstrating this is the Airlander which has just commenced commercial production of its new aircraft, having completed all the trials and tests of a prototype in 2017.
Airlander 10 is the world’s largest aircraft. It uses innovative technology to combine the best characteristics of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters with lighter-than-air technology to create a new breed of hyper-efficient aircraft.
It can stay airborne for up to five days at a time. It will fulfil a wide range of communication, cargo carrying and survey roles in both the military and commercial sectors, all with a significantly lower carbon footprint than other forms of air transport.
Andy Barton, Civil Business Development Director for Airlander, gave an insight into how the commercial aircraft will fit into India, making it a gateway to the South Asian region, especially for tourists exploring the remotest sites in the mountains. At the same time, it will be a highly valued asset for rescue and disaster management.
“It is designed to reach out to the world’s most beautiful sites not connected by roads and railways for tourists to see and experience the remote regions,” Barton pointed out.
For India, Airlander 10 can cruise into places such as Hindu Kush and or neighbouring Bhutan and Nepal.
Barton noted South Asian tourism industry’s growth potential and India’s healthy budget for developing tourist sites across the country. Airlander 10, once put into commercial operation from the early 2020s, will be one simple solution to multi-billion-dollar tourism development programmes across South Asia, he said.
It is designed to take people in its low-pressure cabin, which is larger than many aircraft in commercial operations as of now. It would take the tourists on a slow journey over the yet to be discovered and explored wonders of the world.
“Airlander 10 cruises at between 40kph and 100kph and this allows passengers to move around the cabin with ease and windows open from the top, for bird’s-eye view and fresh air,” explained Barton of the luxury tours to come.
The first commercial Airlander 10 will have 19 passenger capacity with full five-star hotel catering services. The cabin could be configured to accommodate more passengers as customer needs dictate.
Barton has done his homework thoroughly, noting the global traveler and tourist demand is for niche service for an experience of a life-time.
While it would be a luxury for the large tourist sector of India, Barton also highlighted the civic role of Airlander 10. “It is designed for luxury, entertainment and fun, but we also have made it an important component of the global search and rescue operations,” he said.
When Airlander 10 is put into operation, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) hopes that some organisations would pledge to deploy their Airlander in response to humanitarian crises like the earthquakes in Nepal. Airlander’s unique capabilities make it ideally suited to delivering disaster relief supplies as well as providing critical emergency communications support.
He underlined the importance of Airlander 10 in today’s global collaboration between private sector’s commercial commitments and public sector’s civic operations, stressing that the aircraft would be a vital asset.
For corporate operators of Airlander 10, it can be an advantage in fulfilling Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Barton believes. Airlander 10 is also a greener form of travel, which has added CSR benefits for operators.
He said that such large-scale global project is based on a single core aircraft which can be tailored for multiple roles, taking in the high potential of market opportunities as well as civic services across the globe. fiinews.com
