Tourists bound for the Balearic Islands from mainland Spain could one day travel in giant airships thanks to a British company.

       Bedford based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) expects the first passengers to fly on its Airlander 10 vessel in late 2028 as it eyes routes in Spain, Malta and Italy.

       The company has won major deals with Spanish airline, Air Nostrum, which has yet to officially announce the routes it wants to operate Airlander 10s on. The regional airline giant has reserved 20 of HAV's remarkable vessels.

       Air Nostrum already operates routes between mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands which would be ideally suited for the vessels, according to HAV.

       Dubbed the "flying bum" because of its distinctive shape, the Airlander 10 will be HAV's first hybrid aircraft to enter the market as the firm promotes its rival to the smaller aircraft currently used on short haul routes.

       George Land, HAV's sales director, told Express.co.uk: "It's wrong to focus on the Balearics alone.

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       "Air Nostrum is by some measures the largest regional airline in Europe now. They're very innovative, very expansive. They like the technology and see the potential in it."

       Mr Land said other sectors where Airlander 10s would be suitable alternatives to fixed wing aircraft include Malta and Italy.

       HAV's focus on sales to regional markets comes as airlines are under "significant" pressure to cut their carbon footprints in tourism hotspots where environmental concerns are at the forefront of local concerns.

       On Britain one day seeing passenger airships, he suggested Airlander aircraft could one day replace smaller planes on regional routes in Scotland thanks to the hybrid vessel's ability to use relatively small landing strips.

       The company aims to build up to 24 aircraft per year at a manufacturing hub in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, with the potential for HAV to become a great British success story, exporting globally.

       Mr Land said: "The business has always been British owned and based in Britain. Though there's nothing British about our marketing. Aircraft are the ultimate universal worldwide tool, so in all honesty the UK is a small part of our global reach. This is a big export product."

       The UK has a long history of aircraft manufacturing, dating back to old-fashioned airships, which were largely superceded by fixed wing vessels and helicopters in the last century.

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       Despite this, engineering experts in airship technology remained in the Bedfordshire heartland where Britain's air industry thrived.

       A few of those engineers developed the idea to create a hybrid aircraft based on "lighter than air" technology that uses gases which are less dense than air to generate lift.

       The idea was to combine the advantages of airships - where helium lifts most of the aircraft's weight, thereby using less energy - with practical benefits associated with fixed wing aircraft, such as better handling on the ground.

       Due to the level of technology when the idea was first mooted, it wasn't considered very feasible to pursue the idea. But aerospace innovations over the last 20-30 years, such as lighter flight control systems, mean the dream is becoming a reality.

       Developments were also spurred on by the United States' need of a surveillance aircraft for its war in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror attacks. The US wanted a vessel with a large payload which could remain in the sky for a week or more for 24/7 monitoring of battlefields.

       The hybrid aircraft which entered service as a result of US demand is now being adapted by Hybrid Air Vehicles for passenger and freight markets.

       The vessel uses less planet-warming carbon dioxide than conventional fixed wing planes, with the possibility of a zero carbon, hydrogen-powered craft possibly being developed in the future.

       Mr Land said: "Our vision is that if you look forward 15 or 20 years we'll probably be making almost exclusively zero carbon aircraft. The only market that probably won't decarbonise is the military market."

       He said while airplane manufacturers "struggle" to decarbonise their products due to limits in battery technology, HAV can be "first" to bring a large, decarbonised vessel to market.

       Currently, HAV's Airlander is designed to seat up to 130 passengers and is not as fast as fixed wing jets with its cruising speed of 60 to 65 knots. For this reason, the company is focused on short haul journeys, including regional trips under 200 nautical miles.

       Airlander 10 is about 90 metres long, with a 40m long cabin which is roughly the same size as an A320 jet but not the same tubular shape.

       Mr Land said the Airlander 10 is among the world's largest aircraft, though it will fly at a lower altitude than the usual 20,000 to 30,000ft seen by planes.

       Instead, most Airlander services will operate a majority of services between 1,000 to 5,000ft above ground level, meaning the cabin won't need to be pressurised.

       Certified by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority, Hybrid Air Vehicle is subject to the same higher regulatory standards of safety as other large, passenger carrying aircraft.

       Mr Land said the experience for Airlander 10 passengers will feel "very different" with more space and less noise than a conventional plane.