The electric air taxi manufacturer Lilium lets the pilots of its planned whiz kid off theLufthansa– Train flight school. “Lilium and Lufthansa Aviation Training will jointly develop a pilot selection and training program to qualify pilots for the Lilium Jet,” announced the two companies in Munich on Wednesday. In the first phase, already qualified commercial pilots will be offered additional training to become Lilium pilots. In order to be able to train enough pilots worldwide, virtual reality technology is also used.
Lilium is developing an electric air taxi with five seats. While most competing models are designed like oversized drones, the Lilium Jet is supposed to take off and land vertically, but cover the distance with the help of wings like a conventional airplane. That makes the electric jet faster and more efficient. Series production and the operation of regional flight services are scheduled to start in 2025. In addition to the Chinese Internet company Tencent, the Munich-based company has Tesla investor Baillie Gifford at its side and currently has 350 employees.
Lufthansa Aviation Training Manager Tiziana Heilig said: “We are delighted to be working with Lilium to create a completely new training program.” The flight school trains cockpit and cabin personnel for around 200 airlines at twelve training locations worldwide.
end of September the school operator Lufthansa Aviation Training asked its approximately 7,000 flight students at the commercial aviation school in Bremen to look for a new career path. For years there will be because of the corona crisis at the group airlinesno need for young pilots, a spokesman for the school operator Lufthansa Aviation Training justified the appeal.
Which companies are developing air taxis
In view of the increasingly congested streets in the world’s metropolises, air taxi manufacturers and investors sense big business. More and more companies are entering the segment. The air taxis should take off vertically in the middle of the city and bring commuters to their destinations in the shortest possible time. The electric drive is supposed to protect the environment and air traffic is supposed to dissolve traffic jams.
Also the European aircraft manufacturer airbus is there and is currently testing his City Airbus at an airfield near Ingolstadt. The City Airbus is an electric aircraft with eight rotors that can take off and land vertically. It is supposed to transport up to four passengers on fixed routes without a pilot and, for example, bring them from city centers to airports. The small passenger Airbus would not be a real flying taxi. Because the flight route cannot be freely chosen by the passengers.
The automaker Daimler and Geely are involved in the start-up Velocopter, which has already carried out test flights in Stuttgart. The Volocopter flying taxis with their 18 propellers are supposed to fly autonomously one day – but with only one passenger. The Baden company plans to set up its first commercial air taxi service in Singapore within the next three years. After two years of close cooperation with the city, a corresponding promise was made, the company from Bruchsal announced on Wednesday. The first offer is expected to be a tourist route along the city-state’s coast. Cross-border connections could follow later. The authorities’ approval for the air taxi service is still pending. The city-state would be the first country in the world to allow the regular operation of air taxis.
Meanwhile, Porsche has teamed up with Boeing, and according to original plans, the first test flights should take place this year.