Rome airport readies for flying taxis by 2024

Passengers flying into Rome from 2024 onwards will be able to go airborne for their taxi ride into the city centre too, if a project between the company operating its main airport and a German startup lifts off on schedule.

Startup Volocopter hopes to make Fiumicino Airport a pioneer site for the rotor-bladed, battery-powered two-seater air taxi it is developing.

Aeroporti di Roma (AdR) CEO Marco Troncone said the journey in one of the craft, which takes off and lands vertically, will take around 15 minutes, compared with 45 minutes or more by car.

The initial cost of a ride will be around 150 euros ($175), a price likely to drop as the service goes mainstream, he said.