FutureFlight
Italian Officials Back Plan To Bring Urban Air Mobility to Rome
Volocopter is partnering with infrastructure group Atlantia and Aeroporti di Roma to prepare to launch an eVTOL air taxi network in the Italian capital by 2024.
VoloCity
Volocopter displayed its VoloCity eVTOL aircraft in Rome's Fiumicino Airport this week, and will move the exhibit to the center of the Italian capital next week. (Photo: Volocopter)

Italian authorities are supporting a joint initiative to pave the way for eVTOL air taxi services to start in Rome. Aeroporti di Roma and ground infrastructure group Atlantia today launched a partnership with German eVTOL developer Volocopter to prepare to launch an urban air mobility (UAM) network in the Italian capital in 2023 or 2024.

In an October 27 announcement, the partners said they expect the first eVTOL services to connect Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (also called Fiumicino) with a chain of vertiports around the city. Volocopter’s two-seat VoloCity eVTOL will have a range of around 22 miles, and the company is also developing a larger, longer-range vehicle called the VoloConnect. The company intends to run the proposed flight network through its VoloIQ digital platform.