At the recent World ATM Congress, Leonardo and Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) announced a partnership to equip vertiports with innovative technological solutions.
According to Ivan Bassato, Chief Aviation Officer of Aeroporti di Roma: “AdR is actively working on designing the ground facilities – the so-called vertiports – to facilitate the operational start-up of this type of service in Rome, with a challenging timeline to launch the first commercial operations between Fiumicino airport and the city of Rome in 2024, maybe on an experimental basis, and to offer the option of flying taxis the very same year. According to the plan, this maiden commercial route would be among the world’s first to take advantage of Urban Air Mobility.”
According to a joint press release:
“With ‘UrbanV’, Aeroporti di Roma is engaged in designing and managing ground infrastructure for Advanced Air Mobility and is currently developing a network of vertiports for Rome, Venice and the Côte d’Azur and, as the first movers in this nascent sector, also globally.
“The partnership reaffirms the two companies’ commitment in this field and follows on from an agreement signed between Leonardo and AdR at the beginning of 2022 to develop innovative projects. One of these, which has with a particular focus on ground infrastructure development and air traffic control requirements, involves urban air mobility to facilitate the transition of AdR’s airport assets into smart hubs. In particular, Leonardo and Aeroporti di Roma will explore suitable technological solutions and ground equipment to develop the new vertiports. At the same time, it will also test new operational concepts to accelerate the technological, regulatory and procedural maturation processes, with the objective of moving from experimentation to service provision in the future.
For more information
