Advanced air mobility developer Lilium expects to spend €340-360 million ($369-391 million) in 2024 as it marches toward preparing to flight test its first production-conforming jet.
The German company said on 27 February that its adjusted cash spend during the second half of 2023 (not including fundraising-related fees and non-operational cash flow) was €150 million. The company ended the year with €198 million in its coffers.
“Our budget for the first half of the year – what we intend to use – is €170-180 million,” Lilium chief financial officer Oliver Vogelsang says. “You could expect the second half [spending] to be in a similar ballpark.”
“Having said this, we closed [2023] with nearly €200 million and that will bring us quite far throughout this year,” he adds.
The company had raised €292 million over the course of 2023, in addition to already banking some pre-delivery payments. It now plans further fundraising, aiming to end 2024 with the same amount of cash it had at end-2023.
Lilium “remains in active dialogue with stakeholders for funding beyond first flight”, it says.
“We are well underway for the first half of the year. We are covered and we are working on getting additional money into the company,” Vogelsang says. “My target is not to close the year with liquidity that is significantly less than at the close of last year.”
As both ground and flight tests are expected to get underway in the coming months, Lilium is in “advanced discussions” for “sizeable” additional fleet orders. The company says it holds about 45 firm orders, and has about 685 pending orders as specified in memoranda of understanding.
Lilium has started assembling its first aircraft at its facility in Wessling, west of Munich. That airframe is expected to fly “by the summer”, says chief executive Klaus Roewe. Before end-2024, Lilium expects to have three prototypes assembled or in assembly, with another three to be built in 2025. The company’s flight-testing campaign – which will comprise between 800h and 1,000h of testing – is to begin before the end of this year, he adds.
“Over the course of 2024, Lilium will be conducting intensive testing of multiple systems, including aerostructures, propulsion… flight controls, avionics, battery packs and integration,” the company says. “The testing will be witnessed by EASA in support of Lilium’s path towards type certification of the Lilium Jet.”
At last week’s Singapore air show, the company announced a tentative 10-unit deal from Manila-based PhilJets and a partnership with electric vehicle charging specialist Star Charge to develop an appropriate system for the aircraft. That deal includes an agreement covering an initial 120 chargers.
