Germany’s position as an early leader in the emerging area of urban airports has been confirmed thanks to two recent announcements.
Lilium, the Munich-based company developing the Lilium Jet, a seven-seat electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced Stuttgart Airport would become another hub for the company’s planned electric regional passenger flights.
Stuttgart will join Lilium’s planned southern German network alongside Munich and Nuremberg airports. Lilium is also planning western German hubs with Cologne/Bonn and Düsseldorf airports.
Lilium is preparing a network of 14 locations in Florida, with the first passenger flights projected to take place there from 2024, in addition to planning a strategic alliance with Azul to build an eVTOL network in Brazil from 2025.
The developer said it “has carried out a number of specific studies in recent years on location choice, infrastructure and airspace integration, including use cases and routes, to confirm the feasibility of regional air traffic with eVTOL aircraft”.
Separately, Munich Airport has announced a collaboration with the UK developer Urban-Air Port to develop ground infrastructure and airport operations for new urban air mobility vehicles and electric air taxis by the middle of this decade.
Urban-Air Port is currently preparing to deploy Air One, a fully operational and integrated airport for drones and eVTOL that links air mobility with ground transportation, in its debut city, Coventry, in spring 2022.
Munich Airport International managing director Ralf Gaffal said: “The aviation industry is constantly evolving. While urban air mobility was a vague vision just a few years ago, this trend is within reach today. We at Munich Airport International see great potential in this new mode of transportation and have developed an advanced air mobility programme to actively shape the future.”
