ITA Airways, Airbus, UrbanV, and Enel together for an Advanced Air Mobility ecosystem in Italy

Rome, January 31, 2024 – ITA Airways, Airbus, UrbanV, and Enel are working together to promote and develop an Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) ecosystem in Italy. The collaboration aims to promote this new, disruptive technology and to develop a sustainable transport solution, with the commitment and cooperation of the various national mobility players. This partnership completes the memorandum of understanding signed in April 2022 between ITA Airways and Airbus and is enriched by two new partners: UrbanV, as the vertiport network operator, and Enel, as the charging solutions provider. The new protocol focuses on defining a joint roadmap for the development, in Italy, of an Advanced Air Mobility ecosystem in which the aircraft operator, the eVTOL OEM manufacturer, the energy solutions provider, and the vertiport operator will work together to evaluate various business models in collaboration with national stakeholders crucial to the introduction of this new service in Italy. In concrete terms, the partners will focus on the operations of the Airbus eVTOL CityAirbus NextGen, studying the standardization of ground services — such as energy supply, charging infrastructure, and the concept of support and services — vertiport and vertiport network planning, as well as defining new passenger experience models and specific routes. Francesco Presicce, Accountable Manager and Chief Technology Officer of ITA Airways, says: "ITA Airways has been operating since 2021. From the very beginning, we decided to look ahead and bet on innovation. It is in this context that in April 2022 ITA Airways and Airbus began together the journey that led to the development of this ecosystem, which is now a reality. This shows that we are on the right path to design the future of Advanced Air Mobility by improving the passenger experience." "At Airbus, we know that the success of Advanced Air Mobility requires much more than just developing an aircraft: it is in fact essential to simultaneously create the conditions for the aircraft's operation and support. We have some experience in developing Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) ecosystems, such as the Air Mobility Initiative (AIM) in Bavaria," says Balkiz Sarihan, Head of Urban Air Mobility at Airbus. "We are excited about this opportunity to work on the development of such an ecosystem in Italy." Carlo Tursi, Chief Executive Officer of UrbanV, adds: "At UrbanV, we aim to improve people's lives by offering a fast, efficient, safe, and environmentally friendly alternative to existing transport solutions, for the short-haul air transport of cargo and people. We aspire to become a major global operator of vertiport networks and will be global pioneers, defining the first Advanced Air Mobility routes worldwide. We are excited to partner with Airbus, Enel, and ITA Airways, each a leader in its sector, and look forward to exploring with them the great potential of urban air mobility in the Italian market."