The Munich air taxi manufacturer Lilium wants to launch its electric jets a year later than announced. Instead of 2024 as originally planned, the approval of the high-speed electric take-off and thus the start of commercial operation is now expected before 2025, as a blog post by Lilium boss Daniel Wiegand shows.
Wiegand told Welt am Sonntag there were several reasons for the postponement. These include slight delays in the design of the model, the Covid pandemic and detailed discussions with regulatory authorities. “It is a very complex program and we cannot and will not compromise on security,” the newspaper quoted the company’s chief executive as saying. With the delays, the money gets into the till later. “If the approval is postponed, revenue will also be shifted,” said the company boss.
The company has been listed on the US technology exchange Nasdaq since September. According to earlier plans, the seven-seat electric jets will be built in series in Germany. They are designed to take off and land vertically, but use wings to cover the distance like conventional airplanes. This should make them faster and more fuel efficient than competitor models. The Lilium share has fallen sharply since its IPO in September 2021 – from initially more than ten dollars per share to about $3.90 most recently.
Source: Krone
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