Helium-filled airships are being touted as a solution to infrastructure challenges in northern communities. On December 3, the Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Flying Whales Quebec to explore the integration of its low-impact transportation solutions.
Capable of transporting up to 60 metric tons and handling large or unusually shaped cargo without the need for roads or heavy ground infrastructure, the Flying Whales LCA60T airship is one solution for the logistical challenges of northern regions.
Initially launching in France, the company has rapidly expanded its presence in Quebec since 2022. Plans were announced in May for an assembly centre to be built in Cookshire-Eaton, near Sherbrooke, to source markets on North and South America.
“Our territory is large, remote and full of potential,” said Kawawachikamach Chief Louise Nattawappio. “Airships such as the LCA60T offer a practical way to carry out major projects while respecting the land. We value solutions that reduce environmental disturbance and create opportunities for training, employment and long-term economic growth.”
The MOU with Flying Whales highlights major projects across Nuchimiyuschiiy, the homeland of the Naskapi people. With the Ishkutau wind energy project in the early planning stages, the ships could be a way to transport turbine blades to the territory.
Deputy Chief Nathan Uniam said there are many practical applications being considered and the community might acquire equity in the company. The partnership will also study the feasibility of a dedicated airship operations base within Nuchimiyuschiiy, with potential for pilot training and related careers.
“We want to have more presence on our land and moving things about is very expensive,” Uniam told the Nation. “This could encourage building more cabins where families stayed in the past. We talked about helping us out with our main need, which is housing.”
Uniam discussed transporting modular housing units from down south with the company. As an environmentally friendly and lower-cost alternative to constructing roads or even airport infrastructure, the 200-metre airships enable loading and unloading without the need to land and a range of 1,000 km.
The hybrid-electric design features a lattice-style composite frame with 32 electric propellers powered by a combination of lithium-ion batteries, turbine generators, and eventually hydrogen fuel cells. Currently in the final design phase, the company hopes to run test flights in late 2027 before launching commercially in 2029.
Far more advanced than the zeppelins and blimps of the past, Quebec has invested $77 million into Flying Whales for its potential to open up isolated regions with a low carbon footprint. Assembling, testing and launching the airships at the 50-hectare Eastern Townships site is expected to create about 300 jobs.
“Maybe in the future we can have one installation out here and ownership over one of the airships operated on our own,” suggested Uniam. “Having more people involved in the aeronautical industry is highly appealing. The CEO made it clear he wants to meet and work with the First Nations.”
Kawawachikamach is on the same 55th parallel latitude as the Cree-Inuit communities of Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik, but its location near the Labrador border doesn’t enable shipping cargo by sea. While airship costs are estimated to be similar to sea freight, Flying Whales moving at 100 km/h can transport materials in days rather than weeks.
Airships could overcome the logistical challenges of moving heavy towers and other equipment for renewable energy projects, either in the 96-metre cargo hold (“belly of the whale”) or attached below. Mining companies like Torngat Metals have already expressed interest.
“We’re looking at wind farms as an alternative rather than having Hydro-Québec erect more dams on our lands,” explained Uniam. “The other is the practical applications within our community, like the transportation of heavy equipment and goods. It hasn’t been talked about much yet, but we have a lot of potential for rare earth minerals.”
With vast potential for wind power in the Far North, Flying Whales partnered with Inuit-owned airline Canadian North in 2023 to research transportation in extreme Arctic conditions. The company has floated plans for a “modular hospital” that would fit into its cargo bay and land in northern communities for weeks at a time.
“There’s no place in the world that stands to benefit more than northern Canada,” Barry Prentice, the director of the University of Manitoba Transport Institute, told Nunatsiaq News. An advocate of cargo airships for over 20 years, Prentice suggested they could deliver fresh fruit and vegetables year-round to remote communities.
Chantiers Chibougamau has discussed transporting its lumber with Flying Whales since 2021. Executive director Frédéric Verreault told Le Jamésien that talks had evolved toward “the transport of kits of structures made of solid wood and assembled modules to more isolated territories, in order to meet the housing needs in northern Quebec.”
While the sky’s the limit for airship applications, others pitching similar ideas have failed to get off the ground. Flying Whales appears to be ahead of over a dozen airship companies, gaining momentum with half a billion dollars of investment and teams of engineers.
“We learned they’re very stringent on meeting and even exceeding the standards in the flying industry,” said Uniam. “It sounded very promising for First Nations communities like us in remote access areas of Quebec. I encourage other Nations to listen and evaluate what the potential for this project could be for their benefit as well.”