Mott MacDonald and UrbanV sign up to jointly develop Vertiports

Mott MacDonald, the global engineering, management and development consultancy and UrbanV, a leader in vertiport design and management, have announced their partnership for the development of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure. They aim to identify and explore viable opportunities for project development worldwide in the AAM sector, leveraging UrbanV's operational experience and Mott MacDonald's expertise.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly work to assess feasibility and scope of cooperation in relation to worldwide projects in the domain of airports, vertiports and AAM. The two companies will jointly identify geographies and partnerships that will forward AAM across the globe in the next five years.

AAM is a new concept of air transportation using electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to move people and cargo between places not currently or easily served by surface transportation or existing aviation modes. eVTOL aircraft may be powered by hybrid electric systems, batteries or potentially hydrogen fuel cells.

Mott MacDonald is one of the world’s most experienced aviation consultancies, providing services from master planning and business case development through to design, delivery management and business change. Its teams have worked with governments, investors, operators and airlines on projects at more than 250 airports worldwide – from small regional airfields to global hubs such as Singapore Changi, Istanbul, London Heathrow and New York JFK.

UrbanV is a company established by Aeroporti di Roma, SAVE Group, Aeroports de la Côte d’Azur and Aeroporto di Bologna, to launch AAM commercial networks starting from Rome, where it plans to enable the first route (Fiumicino Airport - Rome City Centre) by the end of 2024.

Horacio Rossi, project principal, Mott MacDonald said “With more than 40 years’ experience in the aviation sector, delivering more than 1000 projects, we are excited to now help realise the potential of AAM. Our team has experience of developing the strategic direction for vertiports, through to masterplans for its size, terminal buildings, energy centre, airfield layout, and safe and efficient operations, as well as crucial connections with other modes of transport. The potential for AAM is incredible, and we can’t wait to work together with UrbanV to develop opportunities.”

Carlo Tursi, CEO, UrbanV said “At UrbanV, we aim to improve people’s lives by enabling a fast, efficient, safe and clean alternative to existing transport solutions for people and goods over short distances, by air. We have the ambition to become a major global operator of vertiport networks, starting from Italy and France, where we are working together with our founding shareholders to establish some of the first AAM routes worldwide. We are excited to partner with Mott MacDonald and we look forward to developing new opportunities together with them, on a global scale.”

Mott MacDonald is already working across the world on several AAM projects. It developed a global vertiport, playbook including the strategic concept, customer experience and designs of vertiport terminals. It has also supported a consortium planning a network of at least 25 vertiports in the UK, helping develop the concept of operations, design and engineering components.

The global advanced air mobility market size was valued at USD 8.93 billion in 2022 and is projected to be worth around USD 45.12 billion by 2030, according to a study by Precedence Research.