Aircraft leasing group LCI and Airbus are joining forces to capitalize on the nascent advanced air mobility (AAM) industry. The partners have agreed to collaborate on several facets of the AAM ecosystem such as partnership scenarios, business strategies, commercialization, and finance.
As part of the agreement, LCI will explore leasing and financing options for the CityAirbus NextGen, a four-seat eVTOL air taxi that Airbus aims to have certified and in service in Europe before the end of this decade. Airbus said it finished assembling the first full-scale prototype of the CityAirbus NextGen late last year and intends to publicly reveal the aircraft on March 7 in Donauwörth, Germany, where it is preparing to start flight testing later this year.
“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,” said LCI CEO Jaspal Jandu. “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.”
LCI is one of a handful of leasing companies that has recently begun investing in new electric and hybrid aircraft. The company has placed deposit-backed orders for up to 125 electric air taxis from Beta Technologies and 40 Chaparral autonomous eVTOL cargo freighters from Elroy Air. These vehicles, both of which are expected to receive their type certification in 2025, will expand LCI’s existing portfolio of assets that already includes multirole helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
More than half of LCI’s helicopter fleet serves the air ambulance market, for which the company is looking to implement the CityAirbus NextGen. Airbus also aims to offer the aircraft for scheduled passenger routes and ecotourism flights.
“LCI’s combination of operational expertise, customer networks, and financial insights complements Airbus’s technical innovation in flight technologies and will enable us to collectively drive the development of advanced air mobility,” said Balkiz Sarihan, CEO of the European aerospace group’s urban air mobility business unit. “Together we will take concrete steps toward the co-creation of next-generation AAM ecosystems and our decarbonization roadmap."
In addition to leasing AAM aircraft, LCI may consider offering bundled leases that would give its customers access to infrastructure such as electric chargers, spare batteries, and hydrogen refueling stations.