Infrastructure holding company Atlantia and Aeroporti di Roma, the largest airport operator in Italy, have partnered with German aircraft manufacturer Volocopter to bring electric air taxis to Rome.
The new service will connect international hub Leonardo da Vinci (Rome–Fiumicino International Airport) with various destinations in Rome, through vertical airports.
Emission-free transportation
According to Volocopter, urban air mobility (UAM) will form part of the solution for heavily congested city centres across the world. As an entirely new mobility service, it offers battery-powered and emission-free transportation for people and goods.
Together with Italian authorities and regulators and with Atlantia’s support, Aeroporti di Roma, and Volocopter aim to raise public awareness about UAM and introduce it to Italy within the next three years.
Rome is one of the first cities in Europe to commit to bringing urban air mobility services to its citizens with Volocopter. Paris committed to a collaboration to bring electric air taxis to the city in time for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Volocopter claims it is the only electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) developer with a product portfolio of multicopter and fixed-wing designs that can be used for passenger and cargo transportation. Through cross-industrial partnerships, Volocopter said it covers all aspects of the UAM ecosystem including aircraft, operations, as well as the digital infrastructure (VoloIQ), enabling large-scale digital visibility of the entire ecosystem.
Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) has a goal to be net zero by 2030. The company reports it has integrated sustainability into its business model to create economic, social, and environmental value, believing that the aviation sector can and must contribute to change.
From an industrial and technological point of view, ADR said it is committed to the development of vertical airports and, more generally, to increasing UAM.
“We are confident that the collaboration between ADR and Volocopter can give rise, in the short term, to important innovations from the industrial point of view. These two companies are strongly focused on the development of sustainable businesses and have a strong technical expertise,” said Carlo Bertazzo, CEO of Atlantia.
“As Atlantia, we will continue to support the diffusion of urban air mobility in our international hub in Rome and in our airport systems of Nizza, Cannes and Saint Tropez, proud to be developing a new transport technology that we can then export to our other European airports, as well as on a global scale.”
Atlantia is a strategic investment holding company that manages motorway and airport infrastructures under concession and provides mobility services. The company mission is to make mobility more sustainable, safe, innovative and efficient, responding to society’s latest needs.
Aeroporti di Roma, an Atlantia Group company, manages and develops the airports of Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino and carries out other activities associated with and supplementary to airport management.
Volocopter aims to build the world’s first sustainable and scalable urban air mobility business to bring affordable air taxi services to megacities worldwide. The company is developing the first fully electric eVTOL aircraft certified to transport passengers safely and quietly within cities.
Picture credit: Nikolay Kazakov
Source: smartcitiesworld.net
Source: IOT NETWORK NEWS
