Orlando, Florida is soon to be the home of the United States’ first flying taxi regional hub, courtesy of Germany-based Lilium.
Lilium, an aviation company focused on zero-emissions regional air mobility service, announced Nov. 11 that it is launching its first US hub for the company’s all-electric, vertical take-off and landing jet aircraft, to be set in the Aerotropolis of Orlando innovation community Lake Nona.
Lilium said its eVTOL jet aircraft can air-ferry up to five passengers and luggage up to 186 miles — about the distance from Orlando to Miami — within 1 hour on a single charge. Shorter flights, such as Orlando to Tampa can happen within 30 minutes, while short hops to Daytona Beach or Cocoa Beach would take just 15 minutes.
Orlando will be just part of Lilium’s plan to bring regional air hubs all over the world. Found in 2015 and headquartered in Munich, the company said it expects to service a sizable global market demand for fully electric aircraft that can take off and land vertically. And in this fashion, Lilium said connecting communities would come at a fraction of the cost of conventional high-speed infrastructure, and at zero operating emissions.
