German Air Taxi Developer Signs Billion-Dollar Brazil Deal

One of Germany’s hottest new air mobility companies, Lilium, has announced a plan to sell 220 aircraft to leading Brazilian airline Azul. The intended deal is worth USD one billion, with the aircraft earmarked to service a country with almost 100 million domestic air passengers a year.

“Azul has brought convenient and affordable air travel to underserved markets across the Americas and this makes them an ideal partner for Lilium,” said Lilium CEO and co-founder Daniel Wiegand. “We’re excited to work with Azul’s seasoned team to deploy a co-branded eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) network in Brazil.”

Founded in 2015 in Munich, Lilium quickly became one of the rising stars in the German start-up scene and achieved unicorn status last year. It currently employs more than 650 people in Europe and the US. The company is developing a seven-seat eVTOL jet and plans to launch commercial operations in 2024.