Photo: UrbanV
With major eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) manufacturers well on their way to certification, infrastructure has become the main focus this year in the AAM (advanced air mobility) sector. Electric air taxis require dedicated airports, commonly referred to as vertiports. In Europe, one operator is getting very close to officially launching what could become the first eVTOL airport network on the continent.
Aeroporti di Roma, SAVE Group, Aeroporto di Bologna, and Aeroports de la Cote d'Azur joined forces to set up a dedicated AAM infrastructure company called UrbanV. Their goal is to complete a pioneering vertiport by the end of 2024 and kick off operations as soon as 2025, in time for the upcoming Jubilee. This traditional Catholic event is expected to bring an impressive number of tourists to Italy, with Rome taking center stage.
A busy event like the 2025 Jubilee is the perfect opportunity to launch innovative means of transportation. UrbanV will offer air taxi services for tourists traveling from the Rome Fiumicino Airport to central Rome. The anticipated success of the event will then become the starting point for an entire network covering multiple areas around Rome. UrbanV plans to operate no less than ten vertiports by 2026.
A collaboration with Lilium, the German manufacturer of the world's only eVTOL jet, will also provide zero-emission transportation for tourists flying from Italy to the French Riviera. The founding partners will initially set up a wide network connecting these two countries. Still, the plan is to eventually expand all over Europe and beyond its borders.
As exciting as it sounds to try out this brand-new type of aircraft, successful AAM operations require much more than a powerful, certified air vehicle. Top-level passenger experience is one of them. UrbanV is now working on an automation process that will make this experience as good as possible for future passengers and also effective for the vertiport operators.
Things like simplified check-in operations and automatic adjustments in case of flight delays are just some of the benefits that contemporary flight customers expect. This is why UrbanV partnered with AWS (Amazon Web Services). An established cloud provider for conventional airports and airlines, AWS will help build an operating model that can be scaled up once UrbanV expands its network in the coming years.
Last year, the Italian AAM company launched another major partnership with Enel X Way, Enel's electric mobility company. The two have initiated a comprehensive study for integrating an electricity network across the future vertiports in Rome and beyond.
According to Enel, it became the first operator in Italy to provide charging solutions for electric aviation – a trailblazing achievement that goes hand in hand with Fiumicino's goal of becoming the first operational vertiport on the continent.
A busy event like the 2025 Jubilee is the perfect opportunity to launch innovative means of transportation. UrbanV will offer air taxi services for tourists traveling from the Rome Fiumicino Airport to central Rome. The anticipated success of the event will then become the starting point for an entire network covering multiple areas around Rome. UrbanV plans to operate no less than ten vertiports by 2026.
A collaboration with Lilium, the German manufacturer of the world's only eVTOL jet, will also provide zero-emission transportation for tourists flying from Italy to the French Riviera. The founding partners will initially set up a wide network connecting these two countries. Still, the plan is to eventually expand all over Europe and beyond its borders.
As exciting as it sounds to try out this brand-new type of aircraft, successful AAM operations require much more than a powerful, certified air vehicle. Top-level passenger experience is one of them. UrbanV is now working on an automation process that will make this experience as good as possible for future passengers and also effective for the vertiport operators.
Things like simplified check-in operations and automatic adjustments in case of flight delays are just some of the benefits that contemporary flight customers expect. This is why UrbanV partnered with AWS (Amazon Web Services). An established cloud provider for conventional airports and airlines, AWS will help build an operating model that can be scaled up once UrbanV expands its network in the coming years.
Last year, the Italian AAM company launched another major partnership with Enel X Way, Enel's electric mobility company. The two have initiated a comprehensive study for integrating an electricity network across the future vertiports in Rome and beyond.
According to Enel, it became the first operator in Italy to provide charging solutions for electric aviation – a trailblazing achievement that goes hand in hand with Fiumicino's goal of becoming the first operational vertiport on the continent.
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