Lilium Receives EASA Regulatory Design Organization Approval for its eVTOL Jets

(Munich, Germany) eVTOL developer Lilium N.V. (NASDAQ: LILM) announced today that it has received Design Organization Approval from its primary regulatory authority, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (“EASA”), marking its status as a company authorized to hold a type-certificate for an eVTOL aircraft in Europe.

Photo courtesy of Lilium.

The approval marks Lilium’s completion of EASA’s qualification process for the Lilium Jet, which began in 2017. Receiving Design Organization Approval is a core requirement for any commercial aircraft manufacturer, according to Lilium.

“In simple terms, the Design Organization Approval is our Licence to Operate and confirms that Lilium has the organization, procedures, competencies, resources, and demonstrated rigor required to design and certify aircraft according to the very highest safety standards,” said Alastair McIntosh, Lilium Chief Technology Officer and Head of Design Organisation.

According to Lilium’s Design Organization Approval, Lilium is qualified to design and be a type certificate holder for aircraft developed according to EASA’s SC-VTOL rules, the comprehensive set of eVTOL requirements that EASA finalized in 2019 – which represent the highest safety objectives globally for eVTOL aircraft, according to a press release from Lilium.

Lilium is simultaneously pursuing concurrent type-certificate validation of the Lilium Jet with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under the provisions of the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement between the European Union and the United States.

The FAA issued its G-1 Certificiation Basis – the first of several steps in the multistep type certification process – for the Lilium Jet on June 26th; thus, today’s EASA approval makes Lilium the only eVTOL manufacturer with both an EASA and FAA certification basis for a powered lift eVTOL aircraft, according to a press release from Lilium.