Read the latest news about German eVTOL developer Lilium.

Lilium is about to file self-administration proceedings in a German court, implementing a form of insolvency protection as it scrambles to line up further investment to complete the development of its eVTOL aircraft. The company announced the move on October 24, a week after the German parliament’s budgetary committee <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-10-18/german-parliament-blocks-loan-guarantee-liliums-evtol">rejected its application</a> for a €50 million ($54 million) loan guarantee, which blocked a matching €50 million loan from the state of Bavaria.
In a statement issued late on October 24, Munich-based Lilium indicated that the refusal of the federal government loan guarantee through the KfW state bank undermined plans to raise further funding from private investors. “Our plan was to obtain shareholder investment in a new funding round anchored by the German government backed loan of €100 million,” said Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe. “We had conditionally secured additional private capital to complement our KfW loan. However, the budget committee was unable to agree on the loan and Bavaria couldn’t do it alone.”
In a <a href="https://investors.lilium.com/static-files/43d46f82-e93c-4f15-b844-8b5afa70217e">6-K filing</a> with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Lilium explained that the self-administration process allows its management team to maintain control of the company under the supervision of a court-appointed custodian. “The procedure is often used to initiate investment by new parties or a process to sell the company’s assets or a business as a whole,” said the company statement. “In Germany, the procedure is generally perceived as providing an improved chance for a successful in-court business restructuring.”
Lilium has been in what it said were advanced discussions with the French government for a €219 million loan to support manufacturing plans in France. It has argued that rival AAM companies have received state support of one sort or another.
The company’s engineering team is well advanced with work to start flight testing a full-scale prototype of its six-passenger Lilium Jet in 2025. This milestone would trigger pre-delivery payments from prospective customers that Lilium said could support operations into 2026.
Earlier this month, it achieved the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-10-01/lilium-achieves-power-first-full-scale-evtol-aircraft">power-on process for the first aircraft</a>, and two more prototypes are being built with support from suppliers. Lilium’s business plan calls for EASA type certification to be achieved in time to start deliveries in 2026.
During the NBAA-BACE business aviation show in Las Vegas, Lilium announced a new partnership with GE Aerospace to cooperate in the application of flight data and analytics platforms to build a scalable flight data management system for eVTOL operators. GE’s Event Measurement System platform is already widely used by airlines and business aircraft operators for flight data monitoring and flight operations quality assurance purposes.
“We deeply regret the insolvency and its consequences for all stakeholders at such a critical stage of our company’s development,” Roewe said. “However, while there is no guarantee for success in insolvency proceedings, we hope that the Lilium Jet will get a chance for a fresh start after the self-administration process is completed.”
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Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

Lilium Set To File For Insolvency Protection to Salvage eVTOL Aircraft Plan

Move comes one week after the German parliament blocked a loan guarantee application

Lilium hopes a self-administration process approved by a German court will buy time to attract new backers to complete development of its eVTOL aircraft.

Lilium Set To File For Insolvency Protection to Salvage eVTOL Aircraft

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