Lilium partners with airport operator Fraport

The Bavarian electric air-taxi company Lilium has announced a strategic partnership with the airport operator Fraport to develop a commercial eVTOL network. The partnership will primarily look at necessary planning and approval steps for eVTOL operation, first in Germany and then in other EU countries.

The partners will also look into “future mobility concepts for vertiport networks that are suitable for electric aircraft.” According to Lilium, the goal is to determine what vertiport concepts for electric air-taxis could look like, especially in and around airports.

“In this collaborative endeavour, our focus is on examining the impact of eVTOLs on airport infrastructure,” says Alexander Laukenmann, Senior Executive Vice President of Aviation at Fraport AG. “As a cutting-edge and environmentally sustainable prospect for regional aviation, eVTOLs possess the potential to address and develop new models of individual travel and mobility requirements in a sustainable manner in the years to come. Fraport, being Germany’s intermodal hub Number One, stands as a global frontrunner in seamlessly connecting diverse transportation modes. Our commitment is to uphold and expand this leadership.”

Fraport is active at 30 international airports on four continents. The partnership complements Lilium’s existing cooperations with German airports, namely Stuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg, Cologne-Bonn and Düsseldorf.

“With Fraport, we have partnered with one of the most renowned international airport operators in the world. Through this partnership, we expect to be able to analyse the conditions for regional aviation with electrically powered and quiet jets,” says Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe. “Our goal is to jointly advance regulatory and practical steps for suitable framework conditions for electric aviation and our potential customers in Germany and Europe.”

In December, Lilium announced the start of production for its Lilium Jet. The first seven units produced will be used for flight tests to obtain type certification for the Lilium Jet from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Lilium received Design Organisation Approval from the agency in November. This approval is a key requirement for companies that develop commercial aircraft. In the USA, it received G-1 certification from the FAA in June.

Also in November, Lililum commissioned InoBat to prepare for the series production of battery cells for the electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle Lilium Jet. The battery manufacturer will build Lilium Jet battery cells at its existing Volta I plant and future Volta II plants in Voderady, Slovakia.

lilium.com