Lilium Jet advances with DOA award from EASA

As of Nov. 27, Lilium (Munich, Germany) has received design organization approval (DOA) from its primary regulatory authority, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The award reflects a seal of quality assurance for companies in aviation design, formally acknowledging a company’s ability to design and develop safe and compliant aircraft. The achievement reflects the culmination of an extensive qualification process for the Lilium Jet dating back to 2017. Receiving a DOA is a core requirement for any commercial aircraft manufacturer.

“While we join a small, select group of companies qualified to develop commercial aircraft, this announcement is especially significant for the global aviation industry as we are doing so by advancing sustainable regional air mobility,” Klaus Roewe, Lilium CEO, says. “I appreciate the many Lilians and countless stakeholders who have played a pivotal role in us achieving this milestone, and we look forward to further advancements toward the commercialization of the Lilium Jet. I would [also] like to thank our counterparts at EASA for their professional cooperation.”

The EASA seeks to set the “right rules for operations and taking care of the environmental elements including noise, while of course ensuring that high safety standards are met,” says Luc Tytgat, acting executive director of EASA. The organization has been “wary of creating barriers to entering this new market” and has “worked in partnership with Lilium, against a demanding timeline.”

According to Lilium’s DOA, the company is qualified to design and be a type certificate holder for aircraft developed according to EASA’s SC-VTOL rules, the comprehensive set of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) requirements that EASA finalized in 2019 and which represent the highest safety objectives globally for eVTOL aircraft.

Lilium is pursuing concurrent type certificate validation of the Lilium Jet with the FAA under the provisions of the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement between the European Union and the U.S. The FAA issued its G-1 for the Lilium Jet in June, making Lilium what is claims is the only eVTOL manufacturer with both an EASA and FAA certification basis for a powered-lift eVTOL aircraft.