Azul Linhas Aereas will have ‘flying cars’ in Brazil by 2025

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Azul Linhas Aéreas has announced a bold plan: to have flying cars to transport passengers in four years. That is, as early as 2025.

This strategy will be put into practice with the German company Lilium, responsible for manufacturing electric and autonomous aircraft (called eVTOL), and Embraer, which will build “giant drones” through the startup Eve.

One billion dollars will be invested in the airline’s project, which foresees 220 vehicles in the fleet. Besides the plans to connect economic centers, metropolitan regions, tourist cities, residential condominiums to airports, the novelty also represents the airline’s focus on an  ESG agenda to reduce emissions of pollutants and improve “social and economic development in Brazil”.

“We are today the largest domestic airline in terms of cities served and daily flights. Our brand presence, air network, and loyalty program allow us to create demand for eVTOL operation. We are one of the world’s largest markets for helicopters, and we believe this project can revolutionize mobility,” said John Rodgerson, Azul’s president.

Currently, the airline has about 700 daily flights to more than 110 different destinations, with a fleet of more than 160 aircraft and approximately 12,000 employees.

But, to continue the partnership plans with the German company Lilium and order the eVTOL aircraft, it is still necessary to wait for the finalization of the commercial terms and the definitive documentation of this agreement.

LILIUM

The company employs around 350 people in Munich. In July 2019, Lilium announced London, UK as its base to develop its software engineering team. The engineering team is led by Carlos Morgado, former chief technology officer of Just Eat. Lilum announced the completion of its first manufacturing facility in October 2019.

The same month, the Lilium five-seater Jet received a Red Dot Award: Design Concept for “Best of the Best”.

The Lilium Jet is a prototype five-seat German electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) electrically powered airplane designed by Lilium GmbH. A seven-seat production version is planned.

The first prototype was destroyed by fire during maintenance on 27 February 2020. A second partially-constructed prototype was undamaged.

A second, unfinished prototype was abandoned and work begun on a seven-seat version, with projected first flight in 2022.

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