Take-off of French cargo airship startup flying whales neither smooth nor simple but investors keep Faith

The take-off of French cargo airship startup Flying Whales is proving neither smooth nor simple despite being vaunted as a prime example of the low-carbon transport of the future.

The company has twice been refused planning permission for its preferred production site at Laruscade, in the Bordeaux region, on environmental grounds and as a result, has pushed back its maiden commercial flight by several years to the end of the decade.

The airship manufacturing plant would require two 250 metre-long hangars, each almost 70 metres high.

In a judgment issued as recently as 24 October 2024, the State Environmental Agency (EA) said the site was particularly rich ecologically’ and constituted ‘a large, natural wetland’ and is the habitat of several protected species.

Meanwhile, on the design side, a number of experts have cast doubts on the technical feasibility of the hybrid-electric VTOL, code-named LCA60T which will be tailored to transporting exceptionally heavy or oversized loads of up to 60 tonnes to and from remote and inaccessible areas. The choice of helium as a fuel has also been questioned.

And yet, in the face of such turbulence the company has maintained its course, having little trouble garnering funding for the project from both public and private sectors.

It is currently preparing its fourth funding round having already raised a total of €230 million since the project was launched.

The most recent investment call was completed in June 2022 which raised €122 million. It saw the participation of the French State and the Principality of Monaco, who joined the Canadian State of Quebec, already a 25% shareholder.

Other investment partners Include ALIAD, the venture capital fund of Air Liquide, a French multinational company which supplies industrial gases and services, the Aéroports de Paris Group and also the regional government of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, which administrates a sweep of territory of south-western France encompassing Bordeaux and Toulouse.

Its president, Alain Rousset, describes Flying Whales as “a ground-breaking technological project, unique in Europe, which combines re-industrialization in rural areas with an ecological transition.”

AJOT interviewed Flying Whales’ CEO, Vincent Guibout, on navigating the headwinds that the company continues to encounter and the latest chapters in the Flying Whales journey.

Securing a French production site

Despite having twice been turned down by France’s EA to build a production center in Laruscade, Flying Whales is undeterred and remains committed to setting up a manufacturing plant on the site, Guibout expressing confidence that environmental approval will eventually be granted. The Nouvelle Aquitaine regional authority’s president is also solidly behind the choice of Laruscade.

“What should be noted is that in its reports, the EA emphasizes that Flying Whales is developing a project that is 'of interest in the context of energy transition', that will create a large number of direct and indirect jobs and whose 'relevance is well-demonstrated', while also stating that 'the industrial project is surrounded by technical guarantees'.” The EA also recognized Flying Whales efforts in taking into account the Laruscade site’s environmental issues, he added.

“The partnership work with the EA and independent experts is continuing in order to take account of the recommendations, improve the dossier to meet the environmental challenges that are essential in the 21st century, and thus enable the development of Flying Whales. We hope to be able to start work on the production site in 2025. Once construction begins next year, the first flight will take place in 2027 and the first commercial flight in 2029.”

Expert scrutiny

Flying Whales is also having to fend off some bad press on the technical front, sources from academia and industry signaling their reservations about the operational capability of the airship, notably its capacity to remain stable when unloading.

Responding to such concerns, Guibout said: “Hovering when loading and unloading is one of Flying Whales’ innovations, made possible by the airship's ability to be stabilized, a subject on which we’ve focused a large part of our development efforts. We are supported by a consortium of 50 companies including Safran, Thalès, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Honeywell, who develop, manufacture and test airship component technologies.

“As with the operation of submarines, the LCA60T will use a ballast system to balance itself and ensure good buoyancy. This system has been designed to enable our airship to compensate for variations in weight, without needing to be parked on the ground. To do this, the airship exchanges one mass for another, which can be water or another payload.”

He explained that when taking on a payload, such as a wind turbine blade, it will be sufficient to gradually release a portion of the water, equivalent to the weight of the payload, to maintain buoyancy and ensure that the airship retains a constant weight. “These phases are already being tested in our flight simulator.”

There has also been criticism of the choice of helium to propel the Flying Whales airship, given that it is much more expensive than hydrogen while the inert gas could potentially be prone to supply difficulties.

“First of all, it's important to remember that helium is a gas that can be stored and that at full capacity, the company would use a negligible proportion of world production. Also, using helium as a carrier gas represents the optimum balance between safety and integrating this expense into the business model. For the record, helium is not flammable, unlike hydrogen, and is therefore less dangerous.

“Each airship will need 180,000 m3, which will have to be changed once every ten years because of the natural leakage rate. We have also worked on a system of pockets to limit the risk of leakage, a system that has now been patented, and our helium supply is already secure thanks to our partnership with Air Liquide.”

New funding round and global reach

Having raised a total of €230 million from public and private investors since the project was launched, Guibout revealed that Flying Whales is currently in the process of a fourth round of funding, amounting to between €150 and €200 million which is due to be completed at the end of the first half 2025 and cover the company's capital requirements up to the first flight.

Turning to Flying Whales’ plans to develop production capabilities with a global reach, Guibout confirmed the recent reports that the company is planning to set up a production centre in Australia to serve the Asia-Pacific market.

“We have identified a potential site in the town of Ballarat (State of Victoria) while in November, signed a partnership agreement with the town of Mount Isa (Queensland) to establish the first operational base for our large-capacity LCA60T airships in Australia.”

In the UAE, the company has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with KEZAD, part of Abu Dhabi Ports Group’s Economic Cities & Free Trade Zones, with a view to accommodating demand for its airships in the Middle East region.

Production sites in France and in Canada will serve markets in Europe and Africa and in North and Latin America, respectively.