Saudia Group to acquire up to 100 eVTOL jets from Lilium
22 July 2024
Saudia Group and Lilium, a leading electric aircraft manufacturer and pioneer in Regional Air Mobility (RAM), signed a binding sales agreement for 50 Lilium Jets, with options for the purchase of 50 more.
This sales agreement, which follows the Memorandum of Understanding between Saudia Group and Lilium signed in October 2022, marks the largest of its kind in the MENA region and represents an important industry milestone as the largest reported firm order of eVTOL aircraft by an airline that plans to operate the aircraft.
It signals a substantial commitment to electric aviation from a world-leading operator, as well as a clear preference towards the superior performance, economics, and passenger experience expected to be provided by the Lilium Jet.
The agreement includes a schedule of deposit and pre-delivery payments, timeline of future deliveries, guarantees on aircraft performance, and provisions on spare parts, maintenance, and repairs. In addition, the parties intend to sign a comprehensive “Lilium POWER ON” agreement for aircraft fleet maintenance and support services.
The eVTOL jets are revolutionizing guest transportation. Their unique vertical take-off and landing capabilities open up entirely new routes. Imagine traveling up to 175 kilometers at speeds of 250 kilometers per hour, saving valuable time compared to traditional options. This technology also tackles traffic congestion head-on. Business travelers and exhibition attendees will benefit tremendously from the ease and speed of electric aircraft, allowing them to seamlessly attend and participate in events. These innovative vehicles will also be a game-changer for tourism, sports, and entertainment, offering a premium travel experience for these exciting destinations.
—H.E. Engr. Ibrahim Al-Omar, Director General of Saudia Group
This initiative enhances connectivity by providing seamless first and last leg connections into Saudia Group’s regional hubs and new point-to-point city connections, such as Jeddah to Makkah, expected to reduce regional travel times by up to 90%. These jets will support Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, offer faster access to key sports and entertainment events in Riyadh, and unlock new possibilities for exploring hard-to-reach tourist destinations across the Kingdom.
Additionally, business travelers attending conferences and events will benefit from improved access and swift transportation. The eVTOL jets are anticipated to increase flight frequencies and decrease traffic congestion, providing a fast and convenient alternative for reaching various destinations within the Kingdom.
Saudia Group expects to receive the first jets in 2026, for which operations will be managed and run by Saudia Private, a subsidiary of Saudia Group. The Lilium Jet will feature large, premium cabins with capacity for up to six passengers plus luggage. It will deliver the Saudia premium experience that is deeply valued by the airline’s guests.
Prior to commercialization, Saudia Group will provide strategic support in Lilium’s certification process with the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), Saudi Arabia’s aviation regulatory agency.
This purchase agreement with Saudia Group marks the latest addition to Lilium’s order pipeline that now consists of 106 firm orders and reservations, 76 options, and roughly 600 aircraft under MOU. Lilium is in advanced discussions with additional global carriers that are looking to reduce carbon emissions and electrify regional air travel.
Saudia Group is one of the largest aviation conglomerates in the MENA region. The Group drives industry development with its 12 subsidiaries and strategic business units, and offers world-class air transport, cargo services, ground services, logistics, maintenance, catering, private aviation, real estate, training, and medical services.
Its most prominent subsidiary is Saudi Arabian Airlines “Saudia”, the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia and a leading airline in the Middle East with a fleet of 144 aircraft and servicing more than 100 destinations to and from the Jeddah (JDH) and Riyadh (RUH) airports.
Saudia Group also caters to diverse passenger segments through entities like flyadeal for economy travelers, Saudia Private for elite travelers, and the Saudia Royal Fleet for the Saudi Arabia Royal Family. Saudia Technic, the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) division, provides aircraft maintenance and manufacturing across continents, operating across the MENA region. Saudia Academy, the training arm of the group, is the largest aviation training academy in the MENA region.
Wow! The Lilium design has always looked attractive, but I thought that this would kill it:
https://investors.lilium.com/static-files/c355ba0f-662c-466c-aa6a-43072b3d34c3
' The ducted fan architecture of the Lilium jet has a disc loading which is up
to 10 times higher than some open propeller architectures making it less effi-
cient in hover. This results in a higher power consumption during the hover
phase when compared to open propellers. However, the paper will show that
the proposed DVTC aircraft architecture only spends a small fraction of the
flight mission in hover flight, and so the contribution of the increased hover
power has a relatively small effect on the overall energy of the flight mission.
Lilium has therefore concluded that the economic benefit of a heavier aircraft
with higher payload and lower noise emission outweighs the higher hover flight
power consumption.'
Posted by: Davemart | 22 July 2024 at 02:44 AM
Here is how Lilium is approaching certification:
https://lilium.com/newsroom-detail/path-to-certification-of-the-7-seater-lilium-jet
' While we continue the flight testing of our technology demonstrators, the first flight of our ‘Conforming Aircraft’ will mark a key milestone for Lilium. The entire flight test campaign for the purposes of certification requires the use of a conforming aircraft, where Lilium will conform the test aircraft configuration against applicable design data and requirements and collaborate with EASA for approval of flight conditions.
Although a demonstrator and a conforming aircraft may look similar, for the sake of flight testing and certification, they are totally distinct. The only tests, including measures such as ‘flight hours’, that are valid in the context of certification are those conducted using a conforming aircraft.'
And now they are building them:
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2024-05-17/lilium-builds-certification-test-facility-evtol-aircraft
' Lilium is currently assembling the second production-conforming example of the six-passenger Lilium Jet. It intends to start flight testing in late 2024 as it works towards achieving EASA type certification by the end of 2025 and initial deliveries in 2026.'
Posted by: Davemart | 22 July 2024 at 04:05 AM
Here is a video with an overview of the Lilium:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gL1y9p6gEv8
At the end they give cost as $7-10 million before add ons, and cost per seat mile at $2.50
Posted by: Davemart | 22 July 2024 at 04:07 AM
VTOL's have incredibly high demands on the battery pack, far more than cars, where the load is not usually enormously variable in use.
To hover, especially this design, they need a very high power draw, and then unless the battery is removed for charging, and these aren't, you have the demands of fast charging.
When I looked into Joby, they apparently based their costings on 10,000 cycles before replacement! That would appear to be pure fantasy.
Here is how Lilium are approaching designing the battery pack and charging:
https://lilium.com/newsroom-detail/lilium-starts-production-of-high-performance-battery-packs-for-the-lilium-jet
' it has started production of the advanced, aviation grade battery packs that will power the Lilium Jet on its first piloted flight, targeted for end of 2024. This latest milestone represents a landmark in the development of the Lilium Jet and follows extensive testing of battery pack subcomponents from individual cell to stack level with a focus on performance, safety and regulatory conformity.
Lilium’s unique, pioneering battery pack is comprised of lithium-ion cells with silicon-dominant anodes that will allow for higher energy, power, and fast-charging capabilities than graphite anode cells. Leading automakers such as Mercedes, Porsche, and GM plan to incorporate silicon anode technology into their premium electric vehicles. Lilium’s battery packs are being designed to meet EASA’s stringent aircraft safety requirements regarding shock resistance, heat resistance, containment, and redundancy. They are also being designed to deliver outstanding power and energy density to support a business model focused on regional, rather than urban, air mobility. Lilium has secured comprehensive intellectual property rights for its unique battery technology. '
They are to use StarCharge liquid cooled cables to keep the temperatures down when charging:
https://lilium.com/newsroom-detail/lilium-partners-with-star-charge-to-develop-best-in-class-charging-systems-for-evtol-operations
' Lilium previously announced its adoption of the Combined Charging System (CCS) standard for rapid charging. Star Charge’s customized, fast-charging system will be fully compatible with the Lilium Jets and other eVTOLs compatible with CCS. The chargers will feature an extra-long liquid cooled charging cable for high-performance charging, suitable for varied landing infrastructure.
By using Star Charge’s CCS chargers, Lilium expects to reduce charging times significantly, in comparison to other chargers without liquid cooled charging cables. Reduced charging times will support reduced turnaround times between flights and provide higher utilization of the Lilium Jet.'
Here is a brief video on their batteries:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx7emo5X-OE
Lilium reckon they can do $2 per seat mile, not $2.50, and that battery densities will enable doubling the range in 7 years or so.
There is a battery webinair here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgBp-YqZ_5M
At an hour long, I am going to check it out later, as I have to get to the garden centre!
I am impressed by Lilium's approach though.
Posted by: Davemart | 22 July 2024 at 04:32 AM
I had a look at their webinair and was mightily impressed.
Full of references to checkable data, such as the data sheets for existing, high volume cells.
Their projections seemed reasonable, and their data backs them up.
Highlights and graphs:
9:29 Hover power calculations
16.58 Translating aircraft power draws to cell level power requirements
19:28 Conforming A/C battery cell specifications
20:26 Our cell performance is in line with current high performance chemistry specs
26:02 Part IAM reserve requirements
29:27 Our cells show similar life cycle as standard Li-ion cells
- note that this is 88% capacity retention over 809 full cycles
31:10 Cycle life increases with real flight profiles
-88 capacity retention over 1450 cycles ( business case is 800 cycles)
- avoiding discharge to 0% due to reserves at landing increases cycle life
significantly
33:51 Prelithiation - the only relatively new step in cell production
36:20 Battery performance increase roadmap
37:47 We believe battery performance will increase 4.5% pa
Lilium performance to enable wider range of battery aircraft
(sTOL cited, with much more range, as VTOL is the energy expensive bit)
Other stuff I noted, $2 is perhaps per km, not per mile.
Perhaps the only potential concern I noted was that they refer to emergency VTOL landing with one of the ten battery packs out.
This is way less than for aircraft, I believe, where in a two engine configuration landing on one is ok (?) so a 50% power loss, not 10%
The issue would appear to be the very high power draw for hovering and take off and landing.
There is an alternative in that they could divert to a landing strip, if there is one about, and land conventionally as it uses way less energy.
Perhaps those with more knowledge of aircraft than I, which includes most of the explored universe, would comment of whether this is a valid concern?
Lilium have provided top notch info on what they are about though - kudos!
Posted by: Davemart | 22 July 2024 at 08:25 AM
On the off-chance that anyone here other than me is interested in the status and prospects of electric VTOL aviation, which judging by the deafening silence would not appear to be the case, :-), here is a video comparison of Archer and Joby, which has the better motor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw98YJ3kTV4
Archer is going for a geared configuration, Joby for direct drive!
As I noted previously, Joby specs seem wholly imaginary, in this and other respects, with them leaping in this case to revolutionary lightweight for for immensely challenging direct drive.
What I find weird is that Toyota is a major investor, their investment criteria seem to be wholly different when they are looking at frontier technology, to their relatively conservative mainstream processes.
Their investment is why I tended to take Joby at face value, but I can find nothing credible in their projections, cost, technical assumptions, timelines, or anything else.
As the likes of gryf with experience in the aircraft industry have noted, Archer seems soundly based, although the tech is still leading edge and challenging.
Posted by: Davemart | 23 July 2024 at 06:19 AM
And from the link already given above, but repeated here;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw98YJ3kTV4
I like the comment by the author of the video regarding Lilium:
' Information about Lilium's batteries was already released more than a year ago (e.g., https://lilium.com/newsroom-detail/liliums-battery-strategy), so the battery webinar didn't bring new perspectives in this regard. Whilst batteries with high silicon content in their anodes can have outstanding performance, their adoption has been historically limited by numerous problems. I imagine Ionblox has invented a clever way to mitigate these problems - a goal that many other battery startups are aspiring towards. But, in the context of achieving a high aviation safety standard, I wonder if it is pragmatic to use novel batteries in a novel propulsion system as part of a novel aircraft concept?
I think that's a risk any observer has to assess for him or herself, weighing it against the potential upsides.'
As against that, Lilium are the opposite of Joby, giving comprehensive and credible rationales and data.
I have already said that their saying that the margins for a successful VTOL landing say it is fine on 9 out of 10 battery packs, and they can glide to a conventional landing elsewhere if there is a problem, sound tight to me, in my ignorance.
Judging by their systematic approach, it seems reasonable to assume that they do not envisage that power margin being an issue for certification, and they may have received guidance to that effect.
To some degree the problem is correctable with progress overall in batteries, which they put at a credible 4.5% pa, which it should be noted is not a done deal, and may or may not eventuate.
Given roughly the same relative energy density and power density, a future battery having twice the energy and range would provide an ample power margin, unless the power is traded off for something else like cost.
And lastly, here is the same expert asking in a 1 hour 50 min video from a year ago
'Lilium, will it work?'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk6kF2eOxOQ
Posted by: Davemart | 23 July 2024 at 06:35 AM
And here are the pdf's for John Lou's analysis of whether Lilium will work:
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbjlVSU1jOWt0QzFyeDY5THFxSVNlYW9xQTNRd3xBQ3Jtc0trbWxocGhGNDBwdWotTENNT0xCbkVpMVh0XzZtRHBUOU5pTmVMRjZWdExzRjZjSVR4MUZFb2JiMFo4NWdEUVJ6ZDVVbVlQUUpjd28xRnJlNWRvSTcxQmhHS2VxLVpiMTBCVUlVOTJYS25GS0Y5a1p1OA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fdrive.google.com%2Fdrive%2Fu%2F1%2Ffolders%2F16IEpl-tQwd244ZVuoIncWn4l8evGRIwH&v=Hk6kF2eOxOQ
The bottom line is that they are fudging it, and extrapolating on theoretical grounds when their own test data shows differently, and way less optimistically.
They cover up better than Joby, but in my view they are just as fallacious, with missed time targets and more fund raising being their achievements to date.
Mr Lou does seem to think that the basic design may work for a much lighter aircraft with fewer passengers.
Posted by: Davemart | 23 July 2024 at 07:39 AM
I started looking at Archer, then I lost heart after finding out that they planned a whacking great VTOL with all sorts of potential problems of turbulence etc.
What we can do at the moment is build excellent two person electric training planes, with conventional, relatively low energy, take off and landing.
In the magic world of venture capital raising, start ups have decided that building a larger plane running on batteries with those comparatively low power draws is not challenging enough, and with one bound they are going to move to enormously more challenging VTOL configurations, when combustion engines and kerosene with their enormously higher energy density have found it challenging enough for decades.
There is a difference between forward projections and fantasy, which is firmly in their rear view mirrors.
Posted by: Davemart | 24 July 2024 at 04:43 AM