Bangkok Post

Ex-Airbus chief exec joins Lilium

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Former Airbus SE chief executive Tom Enders has become the latest aviation stalwart to throw his weight behind the future of flight, joining the board of German start-up Lilium.

Enders, an industry veteran with almost three decades of experience, spent seven years at the helm of planemaker Airbus before stepping down in 2019.

Lilium impressed him with its focus on clean-energy intercity flights, strong partners and a close relationsh­ip with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, according to a statement on Monday.

Lilium was founded in 2015 and aims to operate an all-electric five-seater flying taxi that takes off and lands vertically.

It has agreed deals with airports at Düsseldorf and Cologne Bonn in Europe and with Orlando, Florida, to open transporta­tion hubs.

The company became a unicorn, or a start-up that is valued at more than $1 billion, after raising $275 million across two rounds last year from investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd, Atomico and later Baillie Gifford & Co.

“Tom obviously brings massive experience from some of the largest global aerospace programs and running one of the two biggest aerospace companies,” Lilium CEO Daniel Wiegand said in an interview.

Enders joins a long list of aviation executives crossing the floor from major aerospace companies to start-ups as the race to fly sustainabl­y powered aircraft heats up.

The mounting climate crisis has put pressure on the entire industry to move toward cleaner flights, giving startups, with their shorter developmen­t timelines, a rare advantage over establishe­d aerospace firms.

In turn, experience­d hands bring startups expertise in everything from supplier connection­s to regulatory bureaucrac­y, while their presence also adds credibilit­y as they try to raise cash.

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