Saudi Arabia has been explicit about wanting to be a leader in next generation mobility. That ambition shows up in partnerships across the advanced air mobility ecosystem and in a headline that matters to operators and pilots alike: Lilium and SAUDIA announced a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2022 that envisioned SAUDIA acquiring up to 100 Lilium Jets as the backbone of a domestic eVTOL network.

From a pilot and operator perspective there are two ways to read that MoU. First, it is a market signal. A national carrier talking about 100 aircraft tells manufacturers, regulators, and infrastructure providers that there is a credible demand case to invest in vertiports, ground charging, maintenance chains, and training pipelines. Second, an MoU is a starting point, not a delivery order. Feasibility studies, commercial terms, regulatory approvals, and operational trials all have to be completed before those aircraft are carrying paying passengers.

On the manufacturer side Lilium was showing tangible progress through early 2024. The company reported Design Organization Approval from EASA in late 2023 and in its shareholder letter and SEC filings it laid out a roadmap that included start of assembly for the first Lilium Jet and a target for a first manned flight toward the end of 2024. Lilium has signaled a target timeframe for type certification and entry into service under EASA’s SC-VTOL framework. Those regulatory milestones matter because certification under a recognized authority is the enabler for international validation and for national regulators to accept a type for commercial operations.

Commercial specs the company and its dealers published for the Pioneer Edition are the sort of numbers operators will immediately run through performance calculators. Lilium and regional partners described the Pioneer Edition as a four-seat cabin with an estimated non-stop range around 175 km and cruise speed near 250 km/h. Those figures define realistic route shapes for point-to-point regional hops and hub feeders, but they also set constraints. In desert climates and on hot days density altitude will reduce payload or range. That is an operational reality any operator flying in Saudi must factor in before scheduling repetitive line operations.

Saudi Arabia already has active projects pushing UAM beyond concept. NEOM formed a joint venture with Volocopter and placed confirmed orders for aircraft to develop a public vertical mobility system, demonstrating a willingness to host early public operations and vertiport infrastructure. In parallel, other industry partnerships in the Kingdom have explored UAM for medical and tourism missions. Those parallel tracks matter because they create multiple use cases and a testbed for both the business model and the regulatory framework SAUDIA and any Lilium operator would need.

So what are the practical items that will determine whether an SAUDIA-Lilium relationship translates into a working service

  • Certification and reciprocal validation. Lilium’s progress with EASA is necessary, but not sufficient. Saudi regulators will need to accept type certification or establish a validation pathway. Operators will want clarity on where Lilium stands on means of compliance and what is delegated to the manufacturer versus what the regulator will independently validate.

  • Heat and performance. Batteries and electric propulsion impose strict limits on energy density, thermal management, and takeoff performance. In the Gulf summer temperatures and high density altitudes will force either payload reductions or shorter ranges compared with temperate conditions. Operators must plan conservative performance margins and test actual takeoff roll and climb rates on hot days before putting aircraft into routine service.

  • Infrastructure and charging. Fast turnaround for point-to-point, repeated short hops requires high-power charging and maintenance provisioning at vertiports. Lilium and partners have outlined charging solutions and a service business, but delivering 24/7 availability in remote tourist sites and at busy hubs requires reliable local power and redundancy. Planning for grid capacity, backup generation, and battery cooling at vertiports will be essential.

  • Airspace integration and segregation. Saudi airspace already handles major commercial flows, military training areas, and rotorcraft operations. Integrating relatively slow, low-altitude eVTOL traffic into existing ATS structures will need defined corridors, robust detect-and-avoid procedures, and likely a vertiport-centric traffic management layer. Expect national regulators to insist on flight path containment and strong procedural mitigations before authorizing commercial networks.

  • Training and maintenance pipelines. An airline scale commitment requires a training program for pilots, simulators or approved training devices, and a network for component spares and repairs. Lilium has described a POWER-ON service business in parallel with aircraft sales to supply these pieces, but national training standards and licensing for crew transitions from helicopters or fixed wing to these novel types will need agreement between the operator and the authority.

  • Use case selection and surge operations. Saudi Arabia hosts major seasonal and event-driven passenger surges. Any eVTOL network that aims to support tourism, airport feeders, or events must demonstrate both normal demand economics and the resilience to handle surge volumes. That will influence fleet size, distribution of vertiports, and whether the service is planned as premium shuttle, scheduled short-haul, or flexible on-demand air taxi.

Bottom line for operators and pilots: the headline MoU is the right kind of signal. It can accelerate regulatory engagement, investment in vertiports, and pilot training. But turning an MoU into a safe, reliable network is heavy on the nuts and bolts. Pilots will want published performance data under realistic climates, operators will need clear certification acceptance, and regulators will insist on airspace rules and infrastructure proven in trials. If Saudi stakeholders align those technical, regulatory, and operational pieces then the Kingdom can move from announcing ambitions to operating scheduled eVTOL services. Until then, the task is less glamour and more systems engineering, real world testing, and methodical risk reduction before passengers climb aboard.