The aircrafts will initially be used for short jaunts of up to 250 miles and will have seating for 100 passengers. But the speeds will barely top freeway traffic at 80 miles per hour.
An English company has an aircraft it hopes will revolutionize air travel.
Hybrid Air Vehicles has added helium with four powerful engines, then encased them in strong but lightweight metal.
The company's CEO, Tom Grundy, calls it “a hybrid aircraft,” not a blimp.
Grundy told CBS News, “What we have here is an aircraft that's using helium, the same stuff that blimps use, just to get a little head start against gravity… but not enough to float. That's why we call it a hybrid aircraft. It's a hybrid of an airplane and an airship.”
The aircrafts will initially be used for short jaunts of up to 250 miles and will have seating for 100 passengers. But the speeds will barely top freeway traffic at 80 miles per hour. It will also feature 16 Olympic swimming pools worth of helium to fly.
By the end of 2029, the company hopes to be welcoming passengers on board.
Hybrid vehicles have worked to reduce emissions on the ground. Grundy says this aircraft will do the same in the air.
Future passengers on the Hybrid Air Vehicles will get a bird’s eye view with panoramic windows and thanks to its low vibrations, the company says it will cut down turbulence.
