Go
in 20 minutes from Fiumicino airport to the center of Rome
: what seems only a futuristic scenario, a project that is far too daring for the state of the capital's infrastructures and transport (deficient, afflicted by chronic delays, inefficient), it seems increasingly feasible.
It is a project, almost a desire, but at the base there is a great will.
The promoters (including
Aeroporti di Roma
and
Atlantia
) believe in it more and more, so much so that they have even set a launch date: the
end of 2024
, coinciding with the beginning of the Jubilee.
It is
VoloCity
, the air taxi project
connecting
the city and the main Italian airport.
The idea came alive, with the first regular test recorded yesterday (a test flight).
Basically, it is a question of transporting departing or arriving passengers in a short time: and therefore, whoever has to take a plane, will begin to fly even before boarding;
while those who have just landed - perhaps after a flight of a few hours - will continue for a little while to move among the clouds.
Another step, therefore, in the "revolution" of urban air mobility.
VoloCity relies on an innovative,
all-electric
zero-emission
aircraft with a
touristic ebusiness vocation: the prototype of electric air taxi is called
Volocopter
and has been designed to allow passengers to make rapid and emission-free flights in urban environments, both on land routes. particularly busy, both over water streams.
At the moment it can carry only one person, the pilot;
but, once the project is implemented, it should carry up to four passengers.
Rome has been identified as one of the first European cities capable of offering direct connections with electric aircraft.
Yesterday morning, it was said, the first test, near Fiumicino.
It is the first time - among other things - that this type of test flight has been carried out in Italian airspace.
On the occasion, the
first
vertiport
was also activated , that is the departure or arrival base of the Volocopter, pioneering aircraft in urban air mobility.
The highly sustainable project is the result of the collaboration between Aeroporti di Roma, Atlantia, UrbanV and the same company that produces the air taxi.
The president and CEO of Adr,
Claudio De Vincenti
and
Marco Troncone
were present at the inauguration ;
the President of Atlantia,
Giampiero Massolo
, that of ENAC,
Pierluigi Di Palma
;
the chief commercial officer and interim chief financial officer of Volocopter,
Christian Bauer
, the CEO of UrbanV,
Carlo Tursi
, as well as the deputy mayor of Fiumicino and the Capitoline councilor for Mobility,
Eugenio Patanè
.
These
flight tests
are part of a larger urban air mobility ecosystem, installed at Leonardo da Vinci.
The vertiport of the main Roman airport is located in the Pianabella area, near the Cargo city, and occupies an area of approximately 5,500 square meters.
To be studied, the landing and departure points within the municipality of Rome, including strategic road junctions and parking areas.
One hypothesis could be to build the first vertiport in the city of Rome on the roof of the Termini station.