Lilium confirms delivery schedule, postpones first manned flight

Lilium, the electric aircraft manufacturer and pioneer in regional air mobility (RAM), has confirmed its delivery schedule allowing for first customer deliveries in 2026 and provided additional programme details. This confirmation follows a recent programme review that considered the testing and validation requirements needed prior to the first manned flight, now scheduled for early 2025, and the readiness of its support organisation and training devices for its customers.

Lilium is currently building the first two aircraft at its production facility in Gauting, south of Munich, Germany. The company has been working with FlightSafety International on an engineering simulator, which will be delivered early next year. The simulator will be used to support the type certification programme.

Lilium Jet MSN 2, now scheduled to perform the first manned flight in early 2025, is being assembled with its fuselage, landing gear, wing, canard and electric harnesses. This change, driven by the delivery of certain parts of flight-testing equipment, component parts of the aircraft, and software, is due to the indirect effects of the ongoing industry-wide supply chain constraints. This shift has no material impact on customer deliveries, programme planning, or total programme costs. Assembly of MSN 3 will start later this year and the aircraft will join the certification flight test campaign in 2025.

Lilium and FlightSafety International will soon present a flight crew training simulator to EASA and FOCA (the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation, which supports EASA in the training programme certification). This will pave the way for the final development of the training devices.

In addition to its certification effort, Lilium continues to build its support and services organisation, Lilium POWER-ON, to ensure a smooth entry into service experience for its customers. After partnering with AJW Group for material services, Dedienne for the ground support equipment and StarCharge for its charging station, Lilium POWER-ON is now concentrating its efforts on digital solutions.

Klaus Roewe, CEO of Lilium, explained: “Lilium continues to make significant progress towards entry into service of its Lilium Jet, not only on certification but also training devices and support and services for our customers. Our latest programme review highlighted that our plan for 2026 first deliveries is confirmed despite the new timeline for the first flight, with no material impact on customer deliveries. With EASA, we continue to work on the highest safety level of our product and we are ramping up production of our test aircraft. We also want to announce by year-end the 2026 launch location of the Lilium Jet with one of our customers.”