After the Munich-based startup Lilium Aviation announced at the end of last year that the London-based investment company Atomico of Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström invests 10 million euros in the company, the next success story follows: The first test flights of the ultralight electric aircraft were successfully completed.
It flies! With a series of test flights, Lilium was able to prove that the technology of their aircraft works. The prototype—a two-seater consisting of a carbon capsule with two wings on which 36 Engines are in place — still without passengers in the air, Lilium Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Wiegand nevertheless sees this as an important milestone:
"Seeing the Lilium Jet take to the sky and performing sophisticated maneuvers with apparent ease is testament to the skill and perseverance of our amazing team. We have solved some of the toughest engineering challenges in aviation to get to this point. The successful test flight program shows that our ground – breaking technical design works exactly as we envisioned. We can now turn our focus to designing the five seater production aircraft."
The development of a five-seater makes sense, as the aircraft will ultimately be used as an air taxi. This is particularly good for commuters, who could typically travel five times faster in an aircraft than in a car. Daniel Wiegand comments in a Interview with Munich Startup:
"We want to use it both in urban areas and between cities. With today's batteries, a range of around 300 km is possible. This would be a good way to connect a region like Bavaria and essentially turn it into a metropolis: From Munich, you can reach most of Bavaria in half an hour."
As the Süddeutsche Zeitung However, it remains to be seen whether air taxis will even be permitted in Germany, as airspace is strictly regulated there. Daniel Wiegand, on the other hand, is rather optimistic about the future: Lilium's aircraft is already in the approval process, and he believes the possibility of spontaneous flight will come sooner or later—it's all a matter of time. As I said: Good prospects, especially for commuters.
Read more: “Air Taxi for everyone: Interview with Lilium CEO Daniel Wiegand”
