HYBRID Air Vehicles (HAV) has reached an agreement with the city of Doncaster in the UK for the development of a production site for its Airlander 10 airship.

The 50-hectare site is located at Carcroft Common and will be acquired by HAV under a freehold agreement, reports London's Air Cargo News.

HAV will begin work on a planning application for the site, working with the local community and other stakeholders as part of the planning and preparation process.

As well as production, the facility will also provide testing and certification operations. It will be capable of producing twenty-four aircraft per year.

The Airlander 10 is capable of carrying 100 passengers, or ten tonnes of payload.

The reserved orderbook for Airlander 10 stands in excess of GBP1 billion (US$1.26 billion), with the first aircraft set to enter service from 2028 with the likes of Air Nostrum Group, the launch airline customer.

Tom Grundy, chief executive of Hybrid Air Vehicles said: "Airlander 10 will transform what's possible for sustainable air travel, and Carcroft Common will deliver the flagship production centre we need to do that, creating over 1,200 jobs and a GBP1 billion per annum export.

"Our vision to rethink clean flight has been met with robust support at every step of the way by City of Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire region."

In 2018, The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) awarded HAV a Design Organisation Approval (DOA), an important milestone on the path to getting its Airlander 10 airship into service.