Leonardo and Aeroporti di Roma announced, on the occasion of the World ATM Congress which has just ended in Madrid, a partnership to equip the vertiports with innovative technological solutions for the benefit of the air mobility of the future.
Leonardo, world leader in technologies and solutions for air traffic control (ATC) and airport management, has been involved for some time in the development of the Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management system and in a series of experiments. with remotely piloted means in the field of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), while Aeroporti di Roma with "UrbanV" is involved in the design and management of ground infrastructures dedicated toAdvanced Air Mobility, currently engaged in the development of a network of vertiport for the benefit of the cities of Rome, Venice and the French Riviera and, globally, as first movers of the nascent sector.
The partnership confirms the commitment of the two companies in this field 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 and air traffic control to facilitate the transition of airport assets managed by AdR to smart hubs. In particular, Leonardo will study together with Aeroporti di Roma technological solutions and ground equipment suitable for the development of the new vertiports, at the same time testing new operational concepts to accelerate the process of technological, regulatory and procedural maturation, with the aim of passing in the future from experimentation to the provision of services.
Remotely piloted aircraft represent the new business frontier for the industries in the sector.
Leonardo has developed technologies and applications in all its fields 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 - declared Ivan Bassato, Chief Aviation Officer of Aeroporti di Roma - is actively working to design the ground structures - the so-called vertiporti - 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 exploit Urban Air Mobility which represents the perfect synthesis of our commitment to two key strategic objectives, sustainability and innovation, to which we also give priority in infrastructure projects for the 'airport of the future ”.
"Leveraging on Leonardo's skills in air traffic management of manned and unmanned platforms, we are able to propose ourselves as one of Aeroporti di Roma's technological reference partners in a highly challenging sector such as that of 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, Leonardo's Senior Vice President Unmanned Systems.
Leonardo is the only company in Europe able to provide complete remote piloted solutions - by designing and developing all the elements of a "drone based" system - for intelligence missions, surveillance, environmental monitoring, information acquisition, integrating platforms , radar and electro-optical sensors, mission systems and ground control stations and, on the other hand, solutions for air traffic control and airport management, ranging from weather radar to secure communications technologies in the airport environment.
