For a few years now, American electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) manufacturers Joby and Archer Aviation have stood alone at the top of the FAA’s air taxi certification totem pole. Now, a German rival is joining them.
A few months after Archer’s Midnight and Joby’s JAS4-1 earned FAA G-1 certification bases, clearing a path to full certification for the firms’ flagship aircraft, Munich-based Lilium received one of its own Monday. With the watershed approval, the seven-seater Lilium Jet is now the only air taxi with certification bases from both the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
