Airport operator Fraport and Lilium N.V., developer of the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet, announced their strategic collaboration to explore required planning and approval steps for state-of-the-art infrastructure for the implementation of commercial eVTOL operations at airports. Fraport is active at 30 international airports across four continents.
The partnership will start by preparing Germany and the industry for the introduction of regional electric air mobility through working with industry groups and the German government to jointly discuss and accelerate necessary regulatory work.
Fraport and Lilium plan to analyze future mobility concepts for vertiport networks that are suitable for electric aircraft. Fraport and Lilium will also examine how future vertiport concepts for this type of mobility could look like, especially at and around airports.
The Fraport partnership will complement Lilium’s existing partnerships at airports across Germany including the airports of Stuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg, Cologne-Bonn and Düsseldorf.
In recent years, Lilium has conducted various implementation studies with airports and air traffic control authorities on eVTOL infrastructure implementation topics confirming the feasibility of regional aviation with eVTOLs.
These studies have been related to suitable locations, structural implementation and airspace integration procedures, including potential use cases and routes. Based on this work, Lilium is continuously working on partnerships and collaborations with the relevant private and public stakeholders to grow the ecosystem and potential network for eVTOL operations to make electric aviation a reality in Germany.
Alexander Laukenmann, senior executive vice president, Aviation, Fraport AG: “In this collaborative endeavor, our focus is on examining the impact of eVTOLs on airport infrastructure. As a cutting-edge and environmentally sustainable prospect for regional aviation, eVTOLs possess the potential to address and develop new models of individual travel and mobility requirements in a sustainable manner in the years to come. Fraport, being Germany´s intermodal hub Number One, stands as a global frontrunner in seamlessly connecting diverse transportation modes. Our commitment is to uphold and expand this leadership.”
Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe highlights: “With Fraport, we have partnered with one of the most renowned international airport operators in the world. Through this partnership, we expect to be able to analyze the conditions for regional aviation with electrically powered and quiet jets. Our goal is to jointly advance regulatory and practical steps for suitable framework conditions for electric aviation and our potential customers in Germany and Europe.”