Northern Lights: A New Generation of Airships Could Soon Be Flying in Canada’s Arctic
Canada's Inuit-owned airline Canadian North has plans for
Look up—way up. You might see something unusual in the sky: Canada’s newest airline, one that may not be an airline at all. It may, in fact, be a fleet of lighter-than-air blimps.
Long the hallmark of steampunk fan fiction, so-so Hollywood sequels, and historical newsreel footage, airships (the broad name for blimps, zeppelins, and dirigibles) aren’t exactly a cutting-edge technology. Nor, for most transportation routes, are they a particularly practical one: their slow speed and limited manoeuvrability make them less than ideal for transporting travellers looking to get from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible.
Such drawbacks are hardly an issue when hauling bulky, heavy cargo to resupply the far-flung settlements dotted across Canada’s expansive northern tundra. The fact that airships require minimal landing and resupply makes a big difference too: instead of plowing and replowing a mile-long airstrip throughout a long, snowy winter only to repave it every summer to patch up fissures caused by the annual thaw, airships need only an anchor tower and a warehouse. Instead of burning thousands of gallons of high-octane jet fuel on a typical flight, airships require only a small store to power their propellers and the occasional top-up of helium to stay afloat.
All in all, itʻs a pretty intriguing possibility—one that Canada’s Inuit-owned airline Canadian North would like to explore. The company recently signed a memorandum of understanding to supply the appropriately named Flying Whales airship company with the meteorological knowledge, technical know-how, and operational insights needed to operate an airship purpose-built for Arctic conditions. The company already has a head start on the project: last year, the government of Quebec signed a $55-million agreement to open a Montreal manufacturing facility for the LCA60T, a next-generation airship capable of hauling 60 tonnes of cargo at a top speed of about 100 kilometres per hour by way of a superefficient hybrid powerplant.
Of course, flying the north is not exactly flying the friendly skies: airships are particularly vulnerable to the high winds and variable conditions that are the norm in the north. Weigh that against other conditions that seem to be rapidly changing: as the race for critical minerals, energy, and other resources heats up, the Arctic looks like it’s going to be the scene of much-increased geopolitical rivalry. If we intend the True North to remain strong and free, we’ll need an efficient, cost-effective, safe way to transport the products, the power, and the people needed to keep it that way. In this, an oversized helium-stuffed balloon floating through the clouds becomes a symbol not only of Canadian ingenuity and engineering, but also of Canadian sovereignty.
