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SINGAPORE AIRSHOW 2024: Lilium and PhilJets to establish eVTOL network across Philippines and Southeast Asia

PhilJets has signed an MoU with Lil­i­um with the intent to pur­chase 10 Lil­i­um Jets and col­lab­o­rate with the Ger­man eVTOL OEM to estab­lish an oper­a­tional net­work across the Philip­pines and oth­er coun­tries in the South­east Asia region.

As part of the agree­ment, which was announced today (Tues­day) at the Sin­ga­pore Air­show, both com­pa­nies will part­ner to devel­op a future ser­vice, includ­ing the joint def­i­n­i­tion of routes, city pairs, and pas­sen­ger demand for an on-demand eVTOL ser­vice in the region.

Sebastien Borel, Chief Com­mer­cial Offi­cer, Lil­i­um, said: “Our strate­gic part­ner­ship with PhilJets will expand our foot­print even fur­ther in Asia, bring­ing the Lil­i­um Jet to South­east Asia. The Philip­pines is well suit­ed for eVTOLs to effec­tive­ly con­nect thou­sands of islands togeth­er through sus­tain­able and high-speed air mobil­i­ty.

“Asia is a key mar­ket for Lil­i­um — and with the unique topo­graph­i­cal chal­lenges this region presents, the inno­v­a­tive design of the Lil­i­um Jet is unique­ly suit­ed to address them.”

As the Philip­pines has more than 7,500 islands, Lil­i­um says its approach for region­al air mobil­i­ty is a per­fect fit for eVTOL ser­vice in the coun­try and show­cas­es the broad­er oppor­tu­ni­ties for island nations across the globe.

Lil­i­um and PhilJets will also iden­ti­fy poten­tial sites, require­ments, and part­ners for land­ing infra­struc­ture, includ­ing the iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of ver­ti­port part­ners in the region, shar­ing ver­ti­port spec­i­fi­ca­tions and access to Lilium’s exist­ing net­work of charg­ing hard­ware providers.

PhilJets cur­rent­ly oper­ates a fleet com­pris­ing 15 pri­vate jets and heli­copters, with plans to expand fur­ther in the next three years, and for over a decade has been a main­stay in the Philip­pines avi­a­tion sec­tor. PhilJets cur­rent­ly oper­ates both pri­vate and com­mer­cial flights, togeth­er with a main­te­nance ser­vices affil­i­ate enti­ty sup­port­ing over 100 heli­copters.

Thier­ry Tea, Chair­man, PhilJets, said: “Our team is proud to col­lab­o­rate with Lil­i­um on the mis­sion to trans­form the Philippine´s mobil­i­ty with eVTOLs. With its grow­ing econ­o­my, geog­ra­phy and impor­tant tourism indus­try, the Philip­pines is a great match to the Lil­i­um Jet´s capa­bil­i­ties.

“Inno­va­tion in avi­a­tion is gain­ing trac­tion among reg­u­la­tors, urban plan­ners and indus­try lead­ers of world­wide economies. Pro­vid­ing effi­cient con­nec­tiv­i­ty to cus­tomers while reduc­ing car­bon emis­sions is a major focus for air trans­port oper­a­tors such as PhilJets. We are also look­ing for­ward to bring­ing this tech­nol­o­gy into Cam­bo­dia and oth­er coun­tries in the region.”

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Jason Pritchard

Jason Pritchard is the Editor of eVTOL Insights. He holds a BA from Leicester's De Montfort University and has worked in Journalism and Public Relations for more than a decade. Outside of work, Jason enjoys playing and watching football and golf. He also has a keen interest in Ancient Egypt.

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