Flying-taxi startup Lilium sees opening to grab airline orders from rivals

London

GERMAN air-taxi startup Lilium sees potential to grab airline orders from competitors as the race to launch electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) craft heats up.

Uncertainty over achieving certification for eVTOLs means those deals inked so far shouldn't be seen as final, vice-chairman Alexander Asseily said in an interview at the Dubai Airshow. The ability to quickly ramp up production will also determine which of the leading startups ultimately prevails, he said.

"There's going to be a massive shortage of supply even with multiple players with certified aircraft," Asseily said. "On top of that, it's not clear that any of the big players, any of the big commercial airlines, will lock themselves in needlessly to one player or another."

While Lilium has agreed to build a flying-taxi network for Brazilian carrier Azul, UK rival Vertical Aerospace has accords with American Airlines, Japan Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways. US-based Archer Aviation has garnered deals with United Airlines, while Joby Aviation is collaborating with JetBlue Airways.

Lilium listed on the Nasdaq in September. The company's shares traded down 2.9 per cent at the close of Friday (Nov 19) at US$8.52. As important as it is to have orders, "it doesn't matter if you can't ship an aircraft", Asseily said. "As excited as we are about all the deals we've announced, the absolute focus right now is the development programme."

Munich-based Lilium, which was founded in 2015, is aiming for service entry in 2024, putting it among the pioneers in the sector. The company's seven-seater model uniquely uses 36 electric motors powering mini jets rather than propellers. Lilium did its first full-scale, full-weight test flight in 2019 on a smaller five-seater demonstrator.

In addition to targeting commuter routes for the wealthy, such as New York to the Hamptons or Miami to Palm Beach, Lilium is looking at opportunities to serve isolated communities including in locations such as Oregon, Asseily said.

Lilium's business model envisages providing its own pay-per-ride service or selling fleets of aircraft with arranged service and maintenance support to corporate and government customers. BLOOMBERG