Mount Isa council thinks big with airbase partnership

Mount Isa may host the first Australian base for French-Canadian aeronautic company Flying Whales' 200m-long rigid airships. The Mount Isa City Council has signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on developing an operational base by 2028, with the parties to begin working together on a technical feasibility study and business case immediately. The base, expected to cost about $60 million to develop, would service part of Queensland and the Northern Territory. Flying Whales' LCA60T airships would be used for tasks including cargo transportation for construction projects in remote areas and logistics for disaster relief. The airships boast a cargo capacity of 60 tonnes. "We are excited by this project and it’s really captured the imagination of our council," Mayor Peta MacRae said. Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae. "We are eager to host the base, which will facilitate the delivery of the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan and the Nations Net Zero goals. "Mount Isa is the regional centre of North-West Queensland, strategically located between southeast Asia and Australia’s eastern seaboard. "Mount Isa is also the regional hub for Outback Queensland, supporting remote townships and communities, so we believe we are perfectly situated to support this.” The council said the airbase project would not be possible without the support of Glencore, who had agreed in principle to release land for the development of the Australian Critical Minerals Industrial Precinct. Flying Whales is developing an aeronautical manufacturing company and an operating company fly the LCA60T transport solution. It said the LCA60T would have the unique capability to load and unload in stationary/hovering flight. This enables access to land lacking in infrastructure and to significantly reduce the environmental impact of cargo transport. “Thanks to the location of Mount Isa city, and thanks to the great proactivity of the council management, Mount Isa provides the ideal base for our LCA60T to deliver new solutions in logistics and transport to Queensland and the Northern Territory," Flying Whales president Sebastien Bougon said. "We are especially eager to work on the solutions we can provide to the challenges faced by remote communities in these areas.” The base in Mount Isa would be the first in a proposed network within the Asia-Pacific of 46bases, with more than 160 bases planned worldwide. Flying Whales is headquartered in Paris and is partly owned by the French and Quebec Governments, with investment from an aeronautical industrial consortium of more than 50 companies from France and Europe, Canada and the United States. You may also like: https://industryqld.com.au/state-details-backing-for-mount-isa-growth-projects/

Mount Isa council thinks big with airbase partnership

Industry Queensland

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