eVTOL jet developer Lilium has signed another key overseas partnership that will bring air technology operations to the south of France and possibly other parts of Europe. The advanced air mobility startup is working with UrbanV from Italy and Aeroports de la Côte d’Azur is pioneering the implementation of a vertiport network on the French Riviera, which could very well be the first region in Europe to enable regional eVTOL travel.
Lilium ($LILM) is a Munich-based startup founded in 2015 that specializes in regional air mobility (RAM). The company remains constantly on our news radar as it continues to expand its footprint of development teams across Europe and the United States.
In addition to expanding its own staff of aeronautical engineers and regional offices, Lilium continued to secure partnerships around the world to introduce eVTOL jet operations now that its aircraft technology has received design authorization from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
This February, Lilium announced a partnership to bring eVTOL operations to Asia, starting with the Philippines. Earlier this month, the startup received a firm order from UrbanLink to put at least 20 of its eVTOLs into service around South Florida.
Lilium today announced another eVTOL operational partnership, this time overseas in the south of France – a popular tourist destination visited by 11 million tourists annually.
eVTOL jets will operate in France and abroad until 2026
According to details shared today by Lilium, it has established a new partnership with Italian vertiport network operator UrbanV and Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur (ACA), the agency responsible for managing Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, the second largest airport in France.
The new partners intend to jointly develop and implement a network of vertiports across southern France to support regional eVTOL jet travel across popular destinations including Monaco, Nice, Cannes, Golfe de Saint-Tropez, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur, spoke about the potential of this new partnership:
This collaboration with Lilium, together with our subsidiary UrbanV, marks an important step in the transformation and decarbonization of regional air mobility. Our territory offers a unique opportunity to fly over the sea and directly connect the main economic, cultural or tourist destinations. As a complementary alternative to the helicopter, the eVTOL has its place in the air transport offered from Nice Côte d’Azur, the airport laboratory of tomorrow, the second platform in France and the gateway to and exit from the inland territory.
In addition to Nice Côte d’Azur airport, Lilium will help integrate eVTOL vertiports in other areas of France, such as Cannes Mandelieu and Golfe de Saint-Tropez airports. In addition, other locations are being considered, including Sophia Antipolis, Aix-en-Provence and Marseille.
Startup eVTOL says it’s already in talks with several regional airline operators interested in buying its all-electric jets to ferry tourists across these pending vertiports.
The French Riviera, better known as the Côte d’Azur region, has already committed to offsetting its emissions and achieving carbon net neutrality by 2030. Lilium hopes its eVTOL and vertiport infrastructure insight can not only help reduce local emissions, but bring faster and quieter air travel to tourists in France. Lilium CCO Sebastien Borel, further:
As a truly European company based in Munich, Germany, with flight tests in Spain and nascent roots in France, Lilium is extremely proud to help create the first regional eVTOL network in the south of France and the first commercially viable network in the EU. We see huge potential in this region and can’t wait to fly our Lilium Jet there soon!
eVTOL operations are expected to begin in the south of France sometime in 2026.
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