Airbus and LCI to partner on development of Advanced Air Mobility Ecosystems

Airbus and LCI  announced a collaboration agreement to jointly develop ecosystems for Advanced Air Mobility. The collaboration will focus on the development of partnership scenarios and business models in three core AAM areas: strategy, commercialisation and financing. Both partners will collectively develop AAM market perspectives and forecasts, conduct industry research, and harness data analytics to understand new applications and missions. They will support the development of new AAM solutions, evaluate new commercial structures in areas including fleet, battery and charging network solutions.

Balkiz Sarihan, CEO and Head of Urban Air Mobility at Airbus commented: "We are excited to extend our long-standing relationship with LCI, an innovative lessor that is globally unique in its positioning across the commercial fixed wing, helicopter and advanced air mobility sectors. LCI’s combination of operational expertise, customer networks, and financial insights, complements Airbus’ technical innovation in flight technologies, and will enable us to collectively drive the development of advanced air mobility. Together, we will take concrete steps towards the co-creation of next generation AAM ecosystems and our decarbonisation roadmap." 

Jaspal Jandu, CEO of LCI, said: “We are delighted to be forging this new partnership with Airbus. For two decades, LCI and Airbus have delivered capacity and financing solutions to airlines and operators across the globe, and we are now extending that to advanced air mobility. Transportation and logistical networks have a duty to be efficient, sustainable, and scalable. Both LCI and Airbus take a holistic and pragmatic view of advanced air mobility, including vehicles and also infrastructure, financing, and network adoption. By combining our respective strengths, we will incubate and accelerate an entirely new generation of aviation.”

As part of the collaboration, LCI will become a key financial partner for Airbus' Advanced Air Mobility projects around certain mission types, such as emergency medical services, and will leverage its network to aid global take up and acceptance. It will also explore innovative leasing and finance solutions for potential customers for CityAirbus NextGen.

Airbus finalised the assembly of its CityAirbus NextGen and powered on the vehicle at the end of 2023. In the next phase, the Company will commence the vehicle’s test campaign, during which it will make use of its new AAM test centre in Donauwörth, Germany. Airbus is also expanding its global network and partnerships to create a unique ecosystem that will foster a successful and viable AAM market.