Leonardo, a world leader in technologies and solutions for air traffic control (ATC) and airport management, has long been engaged in the development of the unmanned air traffic control (UTM) system and in a series of experiments with remotely piloted vehicles in the field of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), while Aeroporti di Roma with 'UrbanV' is engaged in the design and management of ground infrastructures dedicated to Advanced Air Mobility, and is currently engaged in the development of a network of vertiports for the benefit of the cities of Rome, Venice and the French Riviera and, globally, as first movers in the emerging sector.

The partnership confirms the commitment of the two companies in the sector and follows an agreement signed by Leonardo with AdR at the beginning of 2022 for the development of innovative projects, including urban air mobility, with particular reference to the development requirements of ground infrastructure and air traffic control. In particular, Leonardo will study, together with Aeroporti di Roma, technological solutions and ground equipment suitable for the development of the new vertiports, while testing new operational concepts to accelerate the process of technological, regulatory and procedural maturity, with the aim of moving from experimentation to service provision in the future.

Remotely piloted aircraft represent the new business frontier for the industry. Leonardo has developed technologies and applications in all its areas of activity, with significant investments in platforms, sensors, communications, control systems, as well as in platforms and technologies to manage manned and unmanned  air traffic control.

"Adr," said Ivan Bassato, Chief Aviation Officer of Aeroporti di Roma, "is actively working to design the ground facilities - the so-called vertiports - and facilitate the operational start-up of this type of service in Rome, with a challenging timeline to launch the first commercial operations between Fiumicino airport and the city of Rome in 2024, perhaps on an experimental basis, and to offer the possibility of using flying taxis in the same year. According to the plan, this first commercial route would be among the very first in the world to take advantage of Urban Air Mobility, which represents the perfect synthesis of our commitment to two key strategic objectives, sustainability and innovation, which we also prioritise in our infrastructure projects for the airport of the future.” 

"Leveraging Leonardo's expertise in air traffic management of manned and unmanned platforms, we are able to propose ourselves as one of the technological partners of reference for Aeroporti di Roma in a highly challenging sector such as Advanced Air Mobility, which will allow in the future - thanks to the progressive implementation of new technologies - to move in a more agile, fast and sustainable way in complete safety," commented Laurent Sissmann, Senior Vice President Unmanned Systems of Leonardo.

Leonardo is the only company in Europe able to provide complete remote-controlled solutions - designing and developing all the elements of a 'drone based' system - for intelligence, surveillance, environmental monitoring and information acquisition missions, integrating platforms, radar and electro-optical sensors, mission systems and ground control stations, and solutions for air traffic control and airport management, ranging from weather radar to technologies for secure communications in the airport environment.