Lilium to receive 100-million-euro state guarantee after all

The Bavarian air taxi pioneer Lilium is set to receive state aid amounting to 100 million euros. The Bavarian cabinet has decided to grant the company from Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich a loan guarantee of 50 million euros. A prerequisite is that the federal government participates in the same manner, said Bavaria's State Chancellery Chief Florian Herrmann after a cabinet meeting in Munich. 

Retaining Important Competencies

The Federal Ministry of Transport welcomed the decision in Bavaria and announced that it would take the necessary steps and coordinate with the Federal Ministry of Finance to review the support. The Budget Committee of the Bundestag must decide on a state guarantee.

“We want to keep this key technology in German hands and prevent it from migrating abroad.”

Industrial Policy as an Important Factor

For years, there has been conflict over the promotion of flying taxi manufacturers in Bavaria. In particular, Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) repeatedly opposed state support for the companies Volocopter and Lilium. In the case of Volocopter, the discussion on state support ended negatively, and the decision on Lilium hung in the balance for months.

The vote for state support for Lilium was a "strategic industrial policy decision by the Prime Minister and the entire cabinet," said Herrmann.

Lilium had recently publicly flirted with a sale to foreign investors and a relocation of its headquarters after a decision on state aid failed to materialize. Flying taxis are already being produced in countries like China. The cabinet also includes Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger.