Airbus, Italy’s ITA Airways to work together on flying taxis

Airbus SE has agreed on a partnership with Italy’s ITA Airways that will see the two companies work together toward eventual deployment of the planemaker’s CityAirbus NextGen flying taxi in the country.

A memorandum of understanding details cooperation in areas including recruitment of local partners, identification of markets and the creation of pilot projects, the companies said in a joint statement Wednesday.

Airbus unveiled the prototype CityAirbus NextGen last September after revamping an earlier electric vertical takeoff and landing model. The Toulouse, France-based manufacturer has said it will make the aircraft available for sale only when the technology is mature, even as rival designs rack up hundreds of conditional orders. The CityAirbus NextGen is scheduled to make its first flight by the end of next year.

Rome-based ITA, launched in 2021 as a new Italian flag carrier to succeed bankrupt Alitalia, is already a major Airbus customer after ordering 28 short- and long-haul aircraft. Container and cruise line Mediterranean Shipping Co. has submitted a bit for ITA backed by Deutsche Lufthansa AG.