Project:
"Vertipass - Development of vertical take-off craft in the context of an avant-garde transportation system for Italy"
 In the competition between nations/regions, those able to attract innovative companies, creative talent and capital are those which will be successful, thanks also to the availability of an economic-social system based on a modern transportation network that has been designed to connect the main communications arteries using a complementary structure of auxiliary vehicles.
This is the concept behind the Vertipass project promoted by AgustaWestland in collaboration with The European House-Ambrosetti, and its goal is to bring the issues of mobility system modernization to the center of debate within the country and governing bodies.
Specifically, the project has been designed to present public sector decision-makers with concrete proposals for a transport policy which promotes an innovative mobility model that takes advantage of all available solutions, including rotary wing aircraft, in an integrated and balanced way.
In recent years, vertical take-off aircraft have undergone a major technological leap to develop an operational capability that is unprecedented. These aircraft are now capable of taking-off and landing under all weather conditions, guaranteeing safety and comfort equal to that of fixed-wing aircraft, and they operate with low environmental impact. Last but not least, they require minimum infrastructure that is an advantage in more densely urban areas which, for this reason, are harder to access.
The helicopter today and the convertiplane tomorrow are technologically able to offer a crucial contribution to an intermodal and sustainable approach to renewal of the Italian mobility system. These aircraft have, today, all that is required to become useful means of interstitial connection between modes of transport that are highly difficult to integrate, thus offering significant advantages for economic relaunching of various areas of the country.
However, there are not sufficient craft to take full advantage of these opportunities. Action must be taken on the contextual conditions (infrastructure, legislation, environment) in which the aircraft operate. Towards this end, the project includes a series of theme-specific working roundtables designed to clarify currently-existing obstacles while at the same time establishing guidelines for full development of the use of rotary wing aircraft in Italy.
This project got under way in 2008 with the publication of a preliminary study, and involves key players, including ENAC, ENAV, the Lombardy Region and the Lombardy Region Environmental Protection Agency.
Alongside this study, the results of which was presented in September 2009 at the 35th forum of The European House-Ambrosetti held at Villa d'Este (Cernobbio), in the presence of the Italian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Altero Matteoli, a series of related Road shows building on the event synergy were organized in main areas of strategic interest in Italy. Their purpose was to create broad-based awareness of these issues among those most potentially concerned to involve them in the process from its inception and generate concrete debate around the question.
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