Natilus, a Californian startup developing a blended-wing-body (BWB) clean-sheet aircraft, has announced a strategic partnership with logistics firm Kuehne-Nagel.
The two companies will collaborate to conduct an environmental, economic and operational assessment of the prospective introduction of Natilus’ future blended-wing aircraft into cargo operations.
Switzerland-based Kuehne-Nagel is primarily a freight forwarder and doesn’t currently have its own aircraft fleet. Nevertheless, it is a key player in the global air freight market as it works closely with a number of air cargo operators all over the world.
Speaking with AeroTime, Natilus founder and CEO, Aleksey Matyushev, explained that Natilus will analyze Kuehne-Nagel’s data to identify opportunities for environmental and operational optimization. Natilus will model how an aircraft, such as the one it is currently developing, could contribute to streamlining Kuehne-Nagel’s network and reducing its environmental footprint.
This exercise, Matyushev explained, will also provide their partners with a clearer picture of the environmental aspects of their operations.
One of the major selling points of the blended-wing-body technology on which Natilus is working is the potential to reduce fuel consumption by 30% or more thanks to its revolutionary aerodynamic design.
Of late, the aviation industry has been warming up to the blended-wing-body concept. Another startup working on a similar concept, JetZero, has recently signed landmark partnership deals, including potential aircraft orders with two of the largest airlines in the US, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
Matyushev also commented on this trend, noting that it was beneficial for startups like Natilus that this design approach was gaining mainstream acceptance.
“It normalizes this technology,” Matyushev said, referring to the latest string of deals in this space.
Matyushev highlighted that many airplanes will be needed in the decades to come, and having several players in this space would provide more options for airlines to get onboard with this technology.
In this regard, he noted that Natilus had opted to focus on a smaller design than JetZero for its own passenger aircraft project.
Though Natilus had initially chosen to focus only on the air cargo segment, in October 2024 it unveiled its vision for a mid-sized airliner, which it calls Horizon, for the A320/B737 category.
Natilus’ partnership with Kuehne-Nagel was preceded on April 30, 2025, by the signature of another strategic agreement with big data and security firm Palantir. Within the framework of this collaboration, Palantir’s AI-driven technology will help Natilus to streamline its internal development processes.
