Lilium Announces $1 Billion Deal with Brazilian Airline

Lilium, a Germany-based electric jet maker, has announced plans to sell 220 of its aircraft to Brazilian airline Azul in a $1 billion commercial deal.

If finalized, the agreement will represent the single largest order in the eVTOL startup’s history, which has previously announced network launch plans in Europe and the US.

As part of the partnership, Azul would operate and maintain the Lilium Jet fleet, while Lilium would provide an aircraft health monitoring platform, replacement batteries and other custom spare parts, according to a news release. Azul also expects to support Lilium with the necessary regulatory approval processes in Brazil for certification of the Lilium Jet and any other required regulatory approvals. The plan is to start the network up in 2025.

Lilium launched in 2015. In 2020, it announced plans to build the first vertiport in the U.S. with the construction of a $25 million, 56,000-square-foot facility in Orlando, Florida.

The first flight of the eVTOL took place in May 2019.

This week, Lilium also announced the appointment of Gabrielle Toledano, chief operating officer at Keystone Strategy and Henri Courpron, founder and chairman of Plane View Partners and former CEO of ILFC and Airbus North America to its board of directors.

The board will be chaired by former Airbus CEO Thomas Enders, upon completion of Lilium’s merger with special purpose acquisition company Qell. That deal is expected to be complete in September.