Rome Fiumicino Airport has marked a milestone having collaborated with UrbanV and Volocopter to successfully complete the first crewed eVTOL test flights in Italian airspace. The tests were part of a mobility ecosystem setup at Fiumicino’s Leonard da Vinci International Airport.
The test flight took place on 6 October, one year after the first eVTOL prototype was showcased in Italy. Since then, significant progress has been made on flight technology, vertiport design adn the regulations neeed to enable the first Advanced air mobility (AAM) services between Fiumicino Airport and the city of Rome, which is planned to take to the skies by 2024.
Describing the test flight as a “significant milestone in our path as pioneers in testing and implementing AAM in Italy,” Marco Troncone, CEO Rome Airport, said: “The opening of the first vertiport in Italy and the first crewed eVTOL flight represent a remarkable step towards the activation of the first AAM routes between Fiumicno Airport and Rome city centre by the end of 2024, ahead of the Jubilee, to offer our contribution to our city and our institutions in welcoming the international tourist flows with a groundbreaking, innovative service.”
Travelling at 40km/h Volocopter’s test pilot flew for five minutes at 40 metres height along a ‘figure 8’ flight path in front of onlookers after attaining all the necessary clearances from the Italian authorities, the civil aviation authority – ENAC, and the provider of air traffic control services (ENAV).
Designed in compliance with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) Prototype Technical Specifications for the Design of VFR Vertiports for Operation with Manned VTOL-capable aircraft certified in the enhanced category the vertiport is located within the regulatory sandbox approved by ENAC. It has been designed to host various types of tests for both flight and ground operations (turnaround, battery charging etc) with an electric system devised to allow testing of various eVTOL charging technologies. Occcupying an area of about 5,5000 sq. m. the infrastructure has been sized to ensure compatibility with the main eVOTLs that will be certified in the coming years and consists of: a final approach and take-off area for landing and take-off operations; a parking area; a covered hangar; various rooms including an office and a warehouse, as well as an area for battery charging.
The test flight was followed by a vertiport demonstration hosted by UrbanV, a company established by ADR – together with Aeroports de la Cote d’Azur, Aeroporto di Venezia and Aeroporto Guglielmo Marconi di Bologna.
Christian Bauer, Volocopter’s CCO and Interim CFO commented: “We’ve come from a signed partnership agreement and evetn series kickoff to a flight test at an operational airport in less than a year. With that, we are bringing together all the key stakeholders and regulators to witness this mobility service and technology with their own eyes.”
He was joined by UrbanV’s Ceo, Carlo Tursl, who said: “This test vertiport is particularly significant for UrbanV, representing our first step towards establishing a network of vertiports in the Rome region. In close synergy with all of our partners in this new mobility ecosystem, we are making progress towards positioning Rome as one of the first European cities to offer seamless connections with electric aircraft, leveraging the expertise we have developed in designing and building ground infrastructure for advanced air mobility.”
