In 2024, Germany’s flagship electric vertical take-off and landing developers, Lilium and Volocopter, both ran out of money after failing in last-ditch attempts to secure government funding. In the midst of his campaign for federal and state loan guarantees, Lilium’s then-CEO, Klaus Roewe, argued passionately for government support. “There has never been a successful aircraft program in the world…

Not that long ago, Germany was the center of gravity for Europe’s burgeoning electric vertical take-off and landing industry, home to ambitious aircraft development programs at Lilium, Volocopter and Airbus. By 2025, those dreams had collapsed. Lilium and Volocopter went bankrupt and had their intellectual property sold to foreign entities, while Airbus put its CityAirbus eVTOL on ice, no longer…