By Alimat ALiyeva

The national airline of Saudi Arabia will purchase 50 electric airplanes from the German manufacturer Lilium NV. The Kingdom has the opportunity to double the purchase of this sample of advanced equipment for trips to tourist destinations, Azernews reports.

On July 18, Saudi Arabia Airlines and Lilium signed a mandatory sale agreement in Gauting, Bavaria, Germany. Both sides have already prepared a looser Memorandum of Understanding for the supply of electric vertical landing aircraft, or eVTOL, by the end of 2022.

Saudi Arabia plans to deploy electric aircraft in various areas. These include the coastal city of Jeddah; eVTOL will transport passengers to hotels in Mecca for religious tourism. The remaining aircraft will be in the capital Riyadh and in the Red Sea, where passenger transportation will be carried out as part of projects being converted into jet airports and tourist facilities.

The purchase of the remaining aircraft depends on Lilium's supply and support capabilities. Saudi Arabia plans to spend $800 billion on the tourism sector over the next decade as it aims to receive 150 million tourists a year.

Lilium stated that this deal is the largest order of eVTOL aircraft from the airline that plans to operate this aircraft.
The $7 million Lilium aircraft, which comes in a configuration with four to six passengers and one pilot, looks more like a small plane than a helicopter. It has two sets of wings and electric turbines.

Lilium plans to deliver the first jet to Saudi Arabia in 2026. Currently, the company is building the first full-scale copies of the test aircraft awaiting certification. The first manned test flights will take place early next year. Daniel Wiegand, co-founder of the German company, said that the startup also plans to build a factory in the Bordeaux region of France, where it will assemble its aircraft. To do this, he wants to receive 250 million euros in support from the French government.