The advanced air mobility (AAM) specialist will partner with Amazon Web Services to develop a city-wide infrastructure for electrically powered flying taxis.
The Italian firm is working in partnership with AWS Professional Services (ProServ) to develop and operate its own networks of vertiports, which will be used by eVTOLs to transport passengers within city centres. This enables UrbanV to leverage AWS’ expertise as a cloud provider for airlines and airports. AWS will help develop an innovative and scalable operating model for vertiports that can be expanded internationally over the next few years.
A network of vertiports
UrbanV has set itself the ambitious goal of launching its first eVTOL service from Rome Fiumicino Airport to central Rome by the end of 2024, ready to transport visitors arriving in the city to attend the Jubilee in 2025, when The Vatican and the city of Rome are expecting an estimated 35 million people to visit. From 2026 onwards, Rome’s network will expand to 10 vertiports, allowing for fast, traffic-free travel between popular transit hubs and tourist destinations.
Our vision for electric urban air travel focuses on reinventing the flying experience
In parallel, UrbanV will open vertiport networks in Venice, Bologna and on the French Riviera, providing travellers with faster and more sustainable alternatives to busy city streets and traditional means of transport. Over the next five years, the company plans to invest several hundred million euros in the expansion of its model on a European and global scale.
Amazon Web Services will play a key role in the development of the operating model for UrbanV vertiports, which will leverage the AWS cloud technology to automate the passenger experience, simplifying check-in and security, reducing the need for space and enabling the vertiports themselves to integrate into urban spaces. Passengers will receive customised updates in real time, with travel plans that will automatically adjust if connecting flights are delayed, as well as multi-channel check-in.
“Our vision for electric urban air travel focuses on reinventing the flying experience,” said Carlo Tursi, CEO of UrbanV. “Within AWS, we recognised the ideal cloud partner to turn this vision into a reality. Its unrivalled experience in the airline industry gives it a profound understanding of the sector and, furthermore, its thirst for innovation makes them the ideal partner to create new possibilities.”
Image: UrbanV
