Fiumicino airport is Italy's first vertiport: the era of the electric air cab has begun

This is the first time this kind of test has been carried out in Italian airspace. These "flight test" are part of a larger urban air mobility ecosystem installed at Fiumicino's Leonardo da Vinci International Airport. The start of operation of Italy's first vertiport is a key step toward opening Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) services in Rome to the public by 2024.

Aeroporti di Roma, Volocopter, UrbanV and Atlantia carried out the first flight in Italy of an equipped eVTOL this morning, also activating the first-ever vertiport in the country, together with Volocopter's VoloIQ digital platform. Today's test took place one year after the first eVTOL prototype was presented in Italy. Over the past 12 months, significant progress has been made in terms of flight technologies, vertiport design and regulations necessary to enable the first AAM services between Fiumicino Airport and the city of Rome to "take flight" by 2024.

Volocopter's test pilot, aboard the electric helicopter Volocopter 2X, flew to 40 km/h for 5 minutes to 40 meters high, performing a flight trajectory "at 8 in front of the spectators." All after obtaining all the necessary permits from the relevant Italian authorities, namely theNational Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) and theNational Flight Assistance Board (ENAV), who are playing a central role in defining the future AAM ecosystem.

Volocopter's electric aerotaxi is designed to enable passengers to make rapid, emission-free flights in urban environments, either on particularly busy land routes or over water flows. The aerotaxy's features reflect Atlantia and Aeroporti di Roma's desire to play a pioneering role in making urban area mobility viable and accessible to the public.

The vertyport was developed in accordance with EASA technical specifications (i.e., "Prototype Technical Specifications for the Design of VFR Vertiports for Operation with Manned VTOL-Capable Aircraft Certified in the Enhanced Category") and is located within an ENAC-approved regulatory "sandbox." It has been designed to accommodate various types of tests for both flight and ground operations (turnaround, battery charging, etc.), with an electrical system designed and built to enable the break-in of various eVTOL charging technologies (battery swapping, fast charging, etc.). The infrastructure, which occupies an area of about 5,500 square meters, is designed to ensure compatibility with the main eVTOLs that will be certified in the coming years and consists of a final approach and takeoff area (FATO) for landing and takeoff operations, a staging area, a covered hangar measuring 20 x 20 meters and about 6 meters high, and various rooms, including an office, a warehouse, and a battery charging area.

This morning's flight was followed by a vertiport presentation, organized by UrbanV-a company founded by ADR, together with Aeroports de la Cote d'Azur, Venice Airport (SAVE) and Bologna Airport Guglielmo Marconi-to design and build vertiports internationally. During the presentation, another dimension of AAM's future services was explored, namely VoloIQ. This digital platform is the centerpiece of the urban/advanced air mobility ecosystem, supporting digital access to all business processes: from flight operations to booking, VoloIQ will support and optimize the development of UAM/AAM operations in cities around the world.

"Atlantia's industrial strategy is strongly focused on investment in technology and innovation so as to make our assets increasingly sustainable and pave the way for new forms of integrated mobility," said Giampiero Massolo, Chairman of Atlantia. "We are happy to have contributed to system-building among some major companies in which we are shareholders. Thanks to their cooperation and input in terms of different skills and areas of excellence, we are creating a new kind of sustainable mobility that did not exist until recently. Through cooperation with relevant institutions, we aim to open AAM's service to the public at Fiumicino, before extending it to the other airports we have invested in, by 2024."

"Today's event represents a milestone in our journey aimed at being 'pioneers' in the experimentation and implementation of Advanced Air Mobility in Italy, and doing our part to make urban transportation increasingly sustainable and seamless," commented Marco Troncone, CEO of Aeroporti di Roma. "The opening of the first vertiport in Italy and the flight of the first equipped EVTOL represent a significant step toward the activation of the first AAM routes between Fiumicino airport and downtown Rome by the end of 2024, in view of the Jubilee, with a view to offering our contribution to our city and institutions in welcoming international tourist flows with an innovative and cutting-edge service."

"In a little less than a year, we have gone from a signed partnership agreement and the launch of a series of events to a flight test in a working facility. Therefore, we are bringing together all key stakeholders and regulators so that they can observe this mobility service and technology firsthand," explained Christian Bauer, Chief Commercial Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer of Volocopter..

"This test vertyport is particularly important for UrbanV, as it represents our first step toward creating a network of vertyports in the Rome area," commented Carlo Tursi, CEO of UrbanV. "In close synergy with all our partners in this new mobility ecosystem, we are making progress toward positioning Rome as one of the first European cities capable of offering direct connections with electric aircraft, leveraging the experience we have developed in designing and building ground infrastructure for advanced air mobility."

Recent studies by EASA and the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility claim that the estimated size of the UAM market in Europe-including R&D, vehicle manufacturing, operations, and infrastructure construction-will be about €4.2 billion by 2030, with the capacity to create or sustain about 90,000 jobs (excluding manufacturing jobs). Looking at the variety of benefits that UAM will be able to bring to Europe, the study ranks Rome as one of the most suitable cities in Italy for the implementation of UAM/AAM services.

The second day of the "Vertiport Experience" event will be held in a similar fashion to the first, with additional insights for stakeholders and business partners on the market outlook, components of the AAM ecosystem, the regulatory framework needed to launch the industry, and opportunities for broader networking to build this emerging aviation sector. By bringing together these decision-making groups, Atlantia, ADR, Volocopter, and UrbanV are creating the synergies and test flight campaigns needed for a successful launch of UAM over the next three years.

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