Diamond Aircraft takes over Volocopter

According to Volocopter, the company has already been integrated into the structure of Diamond Aircraft Industries, based in Vienna’s Neustadt. Diamond Aircraft is in turn a subsidiary of the Wanfeng Aircraft Division of the Wanfeng Auto Holding Group from China – and is described by Volocopter as “an internationally renowned aircraft manufacturer with over four decades of international experience.”

In the press release, which is extremely brief for an acquisition, Volocopter states that its own reorganisation “expands the company’s aircraft and business portfolio to include the field of electric urban aviation.” Under the umbrella of Diamond Aircraft, Volocopter will be able to “reduce costs, retain highly motivated and qualified employees and focus on achieving its certification goals by 2025.”

A week ago, reports emerged that the insolvent air taxi startup had found an investor in Diamond Aircraft. According to the information at the time, a deal had already been agreed with Diamond, according to which the new owner wanted to reduce the Volocopter team from around 500 to around 160 employees – Volocopter had already given notice to all employees at the end of June at the beginning of March. It is not known what the purchase price will be.

Such an amount is also not mentioned in the short press release, and the alleged job cuts are not commented on – there is only the quoted formulation of wanting to “retain qualified employees.” The exact economic perspective is still unclear, especially as Diamond Aircraft has not been active in the VTOL sector to date. The Austrian company mainly does business with motorised gliders and small aircraft for the private market, but has already completed the maiden flight with an all-electric training aircraft called the eDA40 in 2023 – so there are certainly ambitions in the electric sector.

Volocopter filed for insolvency on Boxing Day 2024. After Lilium, this was the second German electric flying taxi startup to become insolvent. Since December, the provisional insolvency administrator, Tobias Wahl from Anchor Rechtsanwälte, has been working on a reorganisation solution.

“The future of aviation is being shaped by visionaries,” said Bin Chen, Chairman of the Diamond Aircraft Group. “Diamond’s broad portfolio will be further strengthened by Volocopter, the VoloCity and future models. Together, we are creating the basis for the further development of sustainable air mobility and strengthening Europe as a centre of innovation in aviation.”

Tobias Wahl, insolvency administrator and partner at Anchor Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, added: “Volocopter’s expertise and highly motivated team have repeatedly set standards in the eVTOL industry. In Diamond Aircraft, we have found a strong strategic partner who will build on this foundation.”

Interestingly, the communication has now been taken offline by Volocopter after announcing the news this morning. While the news has been confirmed by other media outlets, it appears that the story may not have reached its conclusion yet. Both companies now belong to the Chinese company Wanfeng.

volocopter.com, aerotelegraph.com (in German)