Two
years
before
German
air
taxi
manufacturer
Lilium
promised
to
deliver
its
first
two
aircraft
to
customers,
the
air
taxi
pioneer
has
run
out
of
money
and
will
imminently
stop
making
them.
In
a
filing
to
the
US
SEC,
Lilium
says
it
cannot
acquire
the
funding
to
continue
operations
in
its
subsidiaries
(Lilium
GmbH
and
Lilium
eAircraft
GmbH),
and
is
going
into
insolvency.
We’ve
been
covering
the
company
continually
since
2017,
when
it
successfully
took
its
first
flight
in
Germany.
Lilium
had
previously
confirmed
it
had
begun
assembling
its
first
two
all-electric
vertical
take-off
and
landing
(eVTOL)
aircraft
in
Germany,
while
working
towards
certification
from
the
EASA
and
FAA,
but
its
first
customer
deliveries
weren’t
slated
until
2026.
The
FAA
had
just
finalized
its
rules
for
eVTOL
operation
requirements
this
week.
But
Lilium
apparently
could
not
secure
enough
funding
in
the
long
run,
and
says
it
failed
to
get
a
50
million
Euro
loan
guaranteed
by
the
State
of
Bavaria.
The
company
also
went
public
in
the
US
in
2021
via
reverse
merging
with
a
SPAC.
Now,
Lilium
faces
the
reality
of
losing
control
of
its
air
taxi
subsidiaries,
although
it’s
always
possible
someone
can
swoop
in
and
buy
them
before
they’re
too
late
to
save.
Air
taxi
firm
Joby
just
got
a
cool
$500
million
investment
from
Toyota
and
got
its
Part
135
air
carrier
certification
from
the
FAA
in
2022.
Meanwhile,
Archer
just
got
the
certification
this
year.
(Originally posted by Umar Shakir)
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