Lilium: Insolvency administrator checks salary payment, expert doubts

Lilium had to file for further insolvency proceedings. Attorney Robert Hänel is now clarifying what will happen next for the flying taxi startup.

The investor DTM actually wanted to transfer 150 billion euros to the flying taxi startup - but Lilium has not seen a cent of the money so far. The reason for this is said to be technical problems. The flying taxi startup was unable to pay the employees' January salaries and had to file for insolvency again.

It is now known who will be the insolvency administrator for the Lilium Aerospace GmbH proceedings: Robert Hänel from Anchor Rechtsanwälte. He and his team say they held talks with the management and other parties involved in the proceedings.

"The initial situation is complicated in this second insolvency. According to management, investors are still interested in a continuation solution," says Hänel.

Several hundred employees are affected by the new insolvency proceedings. The employees are now laid off and business operations have been suspended, it is said. Hänel is also clarifying "the next steps" with the Federal Employment Agency. The Federal Employment Agency is responsible, for example, for approving insolvency funds. "It is still too early to make a binding statement at this point," says Hänel.

When asked by Gründerszene, an insolvency administrator who did not want to be named believes it is unlikely that Lilium employees can actually hope to receive their salaries as insolvency money. The Federal Employment Agency sees Lilium - and its subsidiaries and successor companies - as one company. Therefore, the employees are not entitled to a further payment of insolvency money. In his opinion, Lilium would have had to be solvent in the meantime in order for this to be granted.

Lilium had already run into financial difficulties last year. High costs were offset at best by declarations of intent to purchase the jets - so far Lilium has not been able to show a manned demonstration flight. In October 2024, the company filed for insolvency under self-administration. The traffic light government had previously rejected a state convertible loan of 100 million euros requested by Lilium.

The other two insolvency proceedings, those of Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH, are being handled by the Görg law firm. The assets of the two companies were transferred to Lilium Aerospace GmbH, but not to its ownership. This means that the assets remain with Lilium GmbH and Lilium eAircraft GmbH. "The assets still due to these companies will now be utilized in the context of the liquidation for the benefit of the creditors of these companies," says a recent statement from the Görg law firm.

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