Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

Read the latest news about German eVTOL developer Lilium.

Some employees of eVTOL aircraft developer Lilium have been recalled to work as the prospective new owners of the group’s German assets prepare to complete a takeover intended to rescue it from bankruptcy. With the transfer of ownership for these assets now expected to be complete by January 31, the group of new investors formerly operating as <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-12-24/lilium-announces-buy-out-deal-american-and-european-investors">MUC Mobile Uplift Corporation</a> has been renamed Lilium Aerospace.
A spokesman for Lilium Aerospace said an expanded group of investors, that now include German start-up backers Jens Beckers, Christian Reber and Frank Thelen, have committed more than €200 million ($210 million) for a notarized financing round. “The investor consortium is working intensively to ensure that operations can be resumed as soon as possible and that the delay in bring the Lilium Jet to market caused by the insolvency is kept to a minimum,” the newly incorporated company said in a written statement.
A court-appointed committee of creditors owed money by German subsidiaries Lilium GmbH Lilium eAircraft GmbH has given consent to the buy-out, clearing the way for an operational transfer on January 7. The new Lilium Aerospace entity has relocated its headquarters back to the group’s former base at Gauting, which is close to the Wessling site where most of the development work has been conducted and still within easy reach of the Munich-area Oberpfaffenhofen airfield.
<h2>Shareholders Face Loss</h2>
Lilium Aerospace’s investors have appointed freelance project manager <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/severin-tatarczyk-222735a2/">Severin Tatarczyk</a> to lead the company while the acquisition is being completed. In a <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1855756/000110465925001866/tm252234d1_6k.htm">January 8 filing</a> with the Securities and Exchange Commission the New York Stock Exchange-listed parent company Lilium NV said that it did not expect to be making “any distributions to holders of Class A ordinary shares in connection with the winding up process.”
Meanwhile, court-appointed administrator Tobias Wahl is seeking financial backers for <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2025-01-07/future-european-evtol-aircraft-pioneers-remains-uncertain">another German eVTOL developer t</a>hat filed for insolvency in the closing days of 2024. Under insolvency laws, <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-12-30/volocopter-files-insolvency-seeks-financing">staff at Volocopter </a>are still able to work on the company's two-seat VoloCity aircraft, with efforts to line up new ownership expected to continue through the end of February.&nbsp;

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

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