Charles Alcock is managing editor of the AIN Media Group, having rejoined the company in 2019. He has been an aviation journalist since 1986, and previously worked for AIN from 1990 to 2017, most recently as editor-in-chief. His main focus is on covering new aviation technology and business models, as well as international news.
Having been raised in the London area, Alcock studied at the University of Manchester in the UK and earned an honors degree in Politics and Modern History. He speaks English and French, and some German.

Managing Editor

Charles Alcock

Read the latest news about German eVTOL developer Lilium.

German eVTOL aircraft developer Lilium today filed for insolvency for the second time in just under four months after a consortium of investors failed to produce promised new capital. In a short statement, Lilium Aerospace—the name the company adopted in early January after MUC Mobile Uplift Corporation agreed to buy the group’s German assets—indicated the business will now shut down.
“While talks about alternative solutions are still ongoing, the chance for restructuring right now is highly unlikely and therefore operations will be stopped,” the company said. “Given the situation, this is deeply regretful for all employees and Lilium Aerospace thanks them for their resilience and dedication.”
Through a notarized financing round, the investors group had pledged to provide more than €200 million ($210 million) to relaunch Lilium. For reasons that have yet to be explained, these funds never materialized from investors including German start-up backers Christian Reber, Jens Beckers, and Frank Thelen.
Some Lilium employees were recalled to work in January following a <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-12-24/lilium-announces-buy-out-deal-american-and-european-investors">December 24 announcement</a> that a group of investors from Europe and North America would acquire the business and fund work to bring its six-passenger Lilium Jet to market in 2026. This deal was supposed to close by January 31 but the process dragged on into February with a spokesman for the investors repeatedly citing “technical difficulties.”
<h2>Employees Go Without Pay</h2>
In the meantime, sources among the company’s staff confirmed that they had not been paid for several weeks. A GoFundMe campaign was launched earlier this month to raise funds for employees unable to cover their living costs, including several who had relocated to Germany from other countries.
Lilium was forced to file for “self administration” insolvency proceedings in October after <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-10-25/lilium-set-file-insolvency-protection-salvage-evtol-aircraft">the German parliament</a> blocked a €50 million loan guarantee that would have resulted in matching funds from the state of Bavaria. Political divisions within Germany’s coalition government were blamed for the narrow vote going against the company. German voters go to the polls in a general election on February 23.
Meanwhile, court-appointed administrators for another German eVTOL pioneer, Volocopter, are still working to line up new investment after that company filed for pre-insolvency proceedings on December 26. Earlier this week, French charter operator Jet Systems Hélicoptères Services signed an agreement to buy a pair of its <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2025-02-18/french-helicopter-operator-signs-volocopters-volocity-evtol">two-seat VoloCity aircraft</a> to launch air taxi services starting in the Paris area.
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