The German manufacturer says it is in “advanced discussions” with the French government to add a high-volume aircraft production facility in France, citing it as an attractive market for its flagship Lilium Jet. The company plans for the aircraft to enter service in 2026.

Lilium says it is evaluating several sites for a manufacturing hub in the country, including in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, which it describes as a “hotbed” for aerospace and battery production. The company estimates it will invest up to 400 million euros (about $432 million) into the site over several years, creating as many as 850 jobs.

Discussions on site selection—as well as potential French government subsidies and loan guarantees for the project—were announced Monday at the Choose France Summit in Versailles and are expected to conclude “in the coming weeks,” per Lilium.

The manufacturer says it picked France because of the country’s “well-established aerospace industry, expertise in electric mobility, highly skilled workforce, and supportive government environment.” It added in a post on social media platform X that it is already sourcing Lilium Jet components from French aerospace suppliers Saint-Gobain Aerospace, Michelin, and Expliseat.

Lilium in December began production of the first Lilium Jet prototypes at its final assembly line in Wessling, Germany. However, the company intends for the aircraft to be operated worldwide, including in the French Riviera in partnership with private jet operator GlobeAir.

Adding a manufacturing hub in France positions those operations closer to the company’s service areas, which could simplify its supply chain, for example. However, it says its French facilities are intended to serve the global market.

Lilium on Monday said it has more than 780 binding orders and memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreements from operators for its flagship aircraft, which it will debut publicly at the European Aviation Business Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva later this month.

The company’s most recent agreement includes 20 firm aircraft orders and options apiece from U.S. operator UrbanLink Air Mobility, which intends to fly the aircraft out of Lilium vertiports in South Florida.

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Joby rolled out its first production prototype from Marina in June, delivering it in September to Edwards Air Force base (KEDW) in California ahead of schedule. There, U.S. Air Force personnel are using the aircraft to conduct logistics and other missions during joint testing. Joby and AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Air Force, signed an aircraft development and flight testing contract in 2020 that has since been expanded multiple times.

Joby says it expects its second prototype, on display at Marina on Monday, to join its counterpart at Edwards later this year following final testing.

The manufacturer designed its flagship air taxi to carry a pilot and as many as four passengers on trips up to 100 sm (87 nm), cruising at 200 mph (174 knots). The company is targeting commercial launches in major U.S. cities such as New York and Los Angeles, where it will ferry customers to and from airports in partnership with Delta Air Lines, in 2025.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Marina expansion, which Joby expects will more than double the facility’s production capacity, was attended by a who’s who of local stakeholders, including the city of Marina and the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP), and Drone, Automation, and Robotics Technology (DART) groups. A representative of the company’s manufacturing partner, auto manufacturer Toyota, was also present.

“This facility will play a foundational role in our future success, and it is a privilege to once again be growing our footprint and our workforce in California,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO of Joby. “I am grateful to the local community and our many supporters who have advocated on our behalf to reach this point and to Toyota for everything they continue to do to make manufacturing a success at Joby.”

Joby expects the expanded Marina facility to be open for operations by next year. The company is targeting a production rate of 25 aircraft annually as its scaled manufacturing plant in Dayton, Ohio, comes online.

The Dayton facility, selected in September, is expected to initially churn out 500 aircraft per year when full-scale operations begin in 2025. The 140-acre site has enough space for the company to one day fill it with more than 2 million square feet of manufacturing assets, which figures to expand capacity further.

However, Marina also has an important role to play for Joby. The company in its 2023 earnings report said a significant portion of the approximately $450 million in cash and short-term investments it projects for 2024 will go toward the site’s expansion. On Monday, it confirmed that a pilot training and flight simulation center as well as a maintenance hub, intended to support early operations, are among the planned facilities.

The expansion is funded in part by the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), which in November awarded Joby a $9.8 million California Competes grant.

The prototype aircraft being built at Marina will further support Joby’s quest for type certification. The company’s initial prototype was responsible for its first $1 million in revenue, as reported in its 2023 earnings: early flight services provided to the Department of Defense, conducted at Marina Municipal Airport.

Since then, the manufacturer has committed to two more air taxi deliveries to MacDill Air Force Base (KMCF) in Tampa, Florida, in an expansion of its $131 million contract with AFWERX. The agreement calls for the delivery of nine aircraft, of which the company has now firmly committed to four.

Evaluations conducted under the contract figure to help Joby refine its air taxi design ahead of for-credit type certification testing with the FAA. The company in February said it is ramping up to for-credit testing following the regulator’s acceptance of the certification plans for its aircraft, components, and systems.

Following the rollout of its second air taxi prototype, Joby says another two aircraft are in the final assembly phase. Parts for “multiple subsequent aircraft” are in production at the company’s recently acquired facility in Ohio, from where they will be shipped to Marina.

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As promised, we wanted the magazine to be something coffee table-worthy and the highest quality magazine dedicated to pilots in the world.

I believe we accomplished that with our first two quarterly editions of FLYING, the second of which ships next week. With the feedback we’ve received from the FLYING community and tapping into my own love of FLYING, we’ve decided to do the biggest print magazine expansion in FLYING’s history.

We are going back to monthly, and we are keeping the high-quality print and design that we introduced in the first quarter.

But that isn’t all. 

This August, we plan to expand the magazine from 112 pages to 164 pages. Like our first two editions of the new design, they are going to be incredibly beautiful, with the highest end paper and packaged with beautiful photos and stories.  

• JOIN THE PARTY: Subscribe to FLYING Magazine

As a FLYING subscriber, you will now receive monthly print issues that are the highest quality magazines in aviation, along with 52 more pages of aviation content each month.  

In addition to the content you currently enjoy, we are also going to be going much deeper into topics that impact current or prospective aircraft owners. Things like aircraft maintenance, finance, buying/selling an aircraft, hangars, and even a section dedicated to aircraft and real estate listings. The back of the book is inspired by Dupont Registry, but for aviation lovers. 

We are also introducing two special editions each year: A summer adventure flying edition and a buyer’s guide. The adventure flying issue will be the July edition and the annual buyers guide will be the October issue. 

I am incredibly excited about this expansion of FLYING Magazine and ask for your support by becoming a subscriber. Subscriptions help cover our cost to deliver the highest quality aviation magazine on the planet. 

Also, don’t forget to tell your pilot friends about all of the exciting developments at FLYING.

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