News / Flying Whales cargo airship take-off delayed by French environmental agency

Photo: © Timon Schneider | Dreamstime.com

The take-off of French cargo airship startup Flying Whales is set to be delayed.

The reason is a recommendation by the state environment agency that the company re-think its plans to build two huge assembly facilities in 75 ha of woodland at Laruscade, in Bordeaux.

French forwarder Bolloré Logistics has already signed up to use Flying Whales’ hybrid-electric LCA60T vertical take-off craft to  transport loads of up to 60 tonnes, which it sees as a sustainable transport solution for exceptionally heavy or oversized loads.

But the state agency said: “The project will have a major impact on the region’s natural heritage.”

Construction work was scheduled to begin next year, but the agency said this would entail “the temporary or permanent destruction of 58 ha of natural habitat”, as building the cargo airships would require two 250 metre-long hangars, each almost 70 metres high.

The agency is particularly concerned at the site’s proximity to two designated nature reserves and its “level of impact on ecological continuity” and species living in these protected areas. It also underlined the “harmful effect” of construction of an anti-intrusion fence that would encircle the site.

It called on the project’s backers to “re-evaluate the local alternatives for siting, taking into account biodiversity issues.”

The environmental agency’s recommendation is likely to delay the project by at least six months, putting maiden flights back to mid-2026. A spokesperson for Flying Whales told French business newspaper Les Échos: “We looked at 13 possible sites, four of which were compatible with the project. Two sites were ruled out by the French Civil Aviation Authority and a third by the host municipality. Only the Laruscade site remained.”

Ironically, Flying Whales has enjoyed strong financial backing from the public sector, notably the Nouvelle Aquitaine regional authority and state investment bank bpiFrance.

In June last year, the company raised €121m ($130m) in a funding round supported by a group of investors.