Is there some reason why you couldn't deflate it and temporarily store the helium in a tank next to a small hangar containing the deflated ship?
Or maybe building huge hangars is simply cheaper now that it used to be?
Seems weird if a airline would purchase 10 units of something while not having any idea where to store them when the weather gets bad, surely they must have some idea.
Maybe? Pumping the helium out and storing it could be done in principle, but in practice could you do that pumping fast enough to respond to bad weather? Controlled venting of the helium would be faster, but then you'd need new helium to fill it back up. This sort of plan would also require more infrastructure at the ports made to service the airship. I also wonder how fast they can go from deflated to operational; maybe hours but maybe longer, if they have to do inspections each time. It all seems like a lot of additional expense for an airship that already has a razor thin niche (transit that needs to be faster than a train or truck, doesn't need to be as fast as an airplane, and is less versatile than a helicopter.)
As for the airline purchasing 10 airships, they didn't. They only reserved 10 and the press release on HAV's website doesn't say how much Air Nostrum Group actually paid for that upfront. Air Nostrum Group may view this as a PR / greenwashing expense, without any real expectation of buying or operating the airships. Similar to GM signing a deal with Nikola.
Or maybe building huge hangars is simply cheaper now that it used to be?
Seems weird if a airline would purchase 10 units of something while not having any idea where to store them when the weather gets bad, surely they must have some idea.