Air traffic German e-aircraft pioneer Lilium can continue working for the time being

Electric aircraft pioneer Lilium can continue its work for the time being. Weilheim Local Court granted the application for insolvency proceedings under self-administration and appointed lawyer Ivo-Meinert Willrodt as provisional administrator.

Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe said that the company wanted to have the electric aircraft certified and put into operation after restructuring with new investments. Management consultants KPMG have been commissioned with the search for buyers or investors - the first talks with investors are to begin shortly, the company announced.

The US stock exchange Nasdaq has suspended trading in Lilium shares and warrants as of Wednesday. Two lawyers, Gerrit Hölzle and Thorsten Bieg, have been appointed to the management board for the insolvency and restructuring proceedings.

Final assembly underway

The first two Lilium jets are in final assembly. The more than 1000 employees are working towards the first manned flight. The company has orders, reservations, options and letters of intent for more than 780 Lilium jets from the USA, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

The Greens in the traffic light coalition had rejected a federal guarantee for half of a 100 million euro loan for Lilium in October. "We had already conditionally secured additional private capital to supplement the KfW loan," Roewe had complained at the time.

Talks about a guarantee from France for a loan of 219 million euros to build a battery factory and an assembly line in south-west France had been at an advanced stage.

In recent years, the start-up company has developed an electrically powered small aircraft that takes off and lands vertically. The first manned flight was last planned for early 2025, with the first delivery to customers scheduled for 2026. Customers and investors have already invested 1.5 billion euros in the company.

SDA