Lilium sells hundred electric air taxis to Saudi-Arabia

Why we write about this topic:

The aviation sector needs to drastically reduce its CO₂ emissions. Several countries and companies are doing this by switching to and investing in sustainable aircrafts. The German company Lilium is a leader in electric jets for regional flights. For this reason, Innovation Origins has selected this contribution.

Saudi Arabia’s national airline, SAUDIA, plans to purchase hundred all-electric Lilium Jets and support certification across the region. The two companies announced a Memorandum of Understanding, writes Lilium in a press release.

As the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia, SAUDIA currently serves a network of more than 100 domestic and international destinations with its world-renowned service and hospitality. Lilium and SAUDIA plan to combine SAUDIA’s unrivaled market knowledge and Lilium’s unique aircraft to transform the Kingdom’s domestic air transport sector. Alexander Asseily, Vice Chairman of Lilium said: “We are thrilled to work with innovative partners for whom sustainability is a priority. This partnership with SAUDIA, our first in the Middle East, is an exciting development for Lilium. We look forward to working with SAUDIA to deploy an eVTOL network across Saudi Arabia.” The start-up wants to begin the production of its vertical take-off aircraft next year.

Other projects

Saudia is not the only airline that has pre-ordered Lilium’s high-flyers. Among others, ASL Group plans to establish an air transit network in the Benelux countries with six Lilium jets and Helity Copter Airlines wants to deploy five of the aircraft in Andalusia.

Lilium has been developing its flying taxi for five years now. It is designed to take off and land vertically. The flying machine has room for one pilot and four passengers. Lilium thinks it will be possible to use existing infrastructure such as heliports and roofs of buildings for the take-off and landing of the jet.