(VOVWORLD) - Flying taxi startup Lilium will set up its first US hub near Orlando, putting more than 20 million Floridians within range of the winged electric aircraft that can take off vertically and cover 300 km (185 miles) in a single one-hour hop.
 An undated handout picture from Munich flying taxi startup Lilium shows its five-seater prototype in Munich, Germany, October, 2019. (Photo: REUTERS) |
The hub, due to start operations in 2025, would be Lilium’s second after a similar Vertiport planned in Duesseldorf, Germany. Startups are racing to develop, certify and manufacture electric aircraft in a bid to revolutionise short-range travel.
Five-year old Lilium - with 375 million USD in investor funding - is one of the best backed. Its five-seater Lilium Jet has undergone flight tests and, if approved for service, would offer travellers a way to skip traffic and quickly reach their destinations for around the cost of an Uber, said Chief Operating Officer Remo Gerber.
The fixed-wing aircraft, powered by 36 electric engines which point down for takeoff and tilt to the rear for horizontal flight, would be steered by a qualified pilot.
“It’s a hundred times safer than helicopters and pricing is five to 10 times cheaper,” Gerber told Reuters in an interview.