Flying Whales cargo airships | Trois-Rivières or Sherbrooke, where will the factory be?

Flying Whales still has a lot of work to do before flying its cargo airships in the skies of Quebec. Nevertheless, his project, which leaves no one indifferent, continues to take shape. Overview of the construction sites of this French company.

Where to build in Quebec?

The Quebec branch of Flying Whales has around thirty employees in its offices in Montreal, where we find mainly engineers who carry out R&D. It remains to choose the location which will host the manufacturing plant, which will include two gigantic hangars. Trois-Rivières and Sherbrooke are the finalists. “The objective is to announce [l’endroit retenu] towards the end of the year, explains to The Press the CEO and founder of Flying Whales, Sébastien Bougon. We will need 300 people. The sites selected are very dynamic economically. » Construction will not begin immediately. There will be issues surrounding the environment and airspace required for flight testing to be addressed.

Why cargo airships?

“There’s about 70% of the country that’s not served by roads and can’t have any hope of that changing,” says Barry Prentice, who directs the Transportation Institute at the University of Manitoba. . In this context, these aircraft have a role to play, believes the expert. The Press contacted him to get an informed opinion on the ambitions of the young company. Whales aims to create cargo airships for transporting oversized loads – wind turbine blades, hydraulic turbines, mining equipment, etc. – which can reach up to 60 tonnes in inaccessible places, such as the Far North of Quebec. The aircraft will first be equipped with hybrid propulsion, then fully electric.

Fly the aircraft

Flying Whales has still not built a cargo airship, 12 years after its founding. Its French factory in New Aquitaine has not even been built. “We will assemble the first machine in 2026,” says Mr. Bougon. Then, we will have two years of ground and flight tests [en France] to obtain certification. » This process could also take longer than expected, according to Barry Prentice. “It’s a new technology and could be difficult if regulators know little about the technology. I think it will take longer and cost more than they think. This could be one of the Achilles heels of technology. » Transport Canada will ultimately have to give its approval.

Find customers

Chantiers Chibougamau could be Flying Whales’ first Quebec client. This wood products specialist collaborates with the company on modeling the distances between wood harvesting points and sawing complexes. This is the phase Flying Whales finds itself in. There are around sixty commercial agreements of this type that have been signed, according to Mr. Bougon. “There are a lot of commercial developments currently,” he assures. It is to study with them and transport tomorrow. » Canadian North, which specializes in passenger transportation to the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, has also entered into a partnership agreement with the French company.

Money

Founded in 2012, the French start-up raised 230 million in financing, including 75 million from Quebec, which owns 50% of the Quebec branch of the manufacturer. There will still be needs. In Quebec territory, how will the planned factory be financed? Will governments have to take out the checkbook for this project? “What we would like is to try to rely as much as possible, as we do in France, moreover, on private financing,” replies Mr. Bougon, when questioned on this question. There is a lot of work to do to set up this factory. »