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The 11th edition of Dronitaly, Italy’s leading international trade show for professional civil drones, promoted by BolognaFiere Water&Energy and organised by Mirumir, closed with 2,376 attendees, confirming an increasingly dynamic market and growing interest in professional drone applications.
The figures from the Bologna trade show: 62 brands, 1,200 square metres of exhibition space, 24 conferences and events and 166 speakers drove a three-day programme centred on the sector’s key development trends, from infrastructure inspections to workplace safety, from environmental monitoring to industrial and energy maintenance, through to data management and the most advanced applications for public administration and high-complexity services. Activities and application areas identified through the joint work of Dronitaly’s scientific and technical committee, chaired by Nicola Nizzoli (President, Assorpas), with members including Andrea Berton (Head of REMOTE Operational Unit, CNR) Serena Geraldini (ISPRA, Coordinator of the SNPA drone working group), Giuseppe Masanotti (Engineer, expert in structural design and safety), Umberto Morra di Cella (Head of RPAS Unit, ARPA Valle d’Aosta) and Paola Olivares (Director, Drones Observatory, Politecnico di Milano).
“The 2026 edition marks an important turning point for the future of Dronitaly - states Paolo Angelini, CEO of BolognaFiere Water&Energy - because it strengthens its role as a reference hub for a sector in full evolution. Our vision is to grow Dronitaly further as a platform capable of connecting businesses, institutions, research and end users, nurturing strategic partnerships that can accelerate innovation, industrial applications and market development. It is through this capacity to build relationships, expertise and concrete business opportunities that the growth of the drone ecosystem in Italy will be driven”.
Benedetta Fiorini - ENAC Board Member and Dronitaly 2026 Patron, added: “We thank BFWE and Assorpas, whose president Nicola Nizzoli has always been a member of the Scientific Committee, for inviting us to Dronitaly. This year, for the first time, ENAC attended the show with its own stand. The many meetings held over the three days of the event made Dronitaly the privileged place for dialogue between Institutions, Companies and the entire supply chain of this highly strategic sector”.
“Dronitaly represented for GALEELEO far more than a first participation: it was an experience that gave us back enthusiasm, validation and a strong sense of direction. We found an ecosystem where vision, responsibility and innovation intertwine, creating fertile ground for the development of advanced Drone as a Service solutions and for the evolution of BVLOS operations. Being a Gold Sponsor in such a dynamic environment was a source of pride and a drive to contribute with even more energy to the growth of unmanned aviation”, states Marco Illarietti, CEO of GALEELEO (gold sponsor).
“The morphological characteristics of the A22 motorway route - explains Carlo Costa, General Technical Director of Autostrada del Brennero (platinum sponsor) - require innovative solutions in the fields of monitoring and maintenance to minimise disruption to users. Today Autobrennero operates a fleet of state-of-the-art drones and can count on 54 employees holding drone pilot licences across the three categories Open A1–A3, Open A2 and Specific. This allows us to be even more efficient and to deploy UAS for targeted diagnostic campaigns and topographic surveys”.
Dronitaly’s results sit within a market context that remains dynamic and growing. According to the Drones and Advanced Aerial Mobility Observatory of Politecnico di Milano, the Italian drone market reached in 2025 a value of 168 million euros, up 5% on the previous year. The same Observatory notes that 95% of the market is today generated by Aerial Operations (professional operations carried out with drones), while the number of companies in the sector has resumed its upward trend, reaching 675 companies, after five years of contraction. For the first time in 2026, moreover, several sessions held during the show were recognised as accredited training activities for public administration employees, as provided for by the Ministry of Public Administration Directive “Enhancing People and Creating Public Value through Training. Principles, Objectives and Tools”.
The 12th edition of Dronitaly will be held at the Bologna Congress Centre from 24 to 26 March 2027.
The 2026 edition of Dronitaly was held with the support of RINA, with Autostrada del Brennero as Platinum Sponsor and GALEELEO as Gold Sponsor.
BFWE is a joint venture founded in 2021 by BolognaFiere and Mirumir with the aim of developing a business project that contributes to awareness and knowledge-sharing on topics connected to the economic and social value of water and the drone industry, with a focus on their related new technological applications (https://www.bfwe.it). BFWE’s portfolio includes the international trade shows ACCADUEO, dedicated to the water sector supply chain, and DRONITALY, dedicated to the professional civil drone sector.
For further information:
BFWE Communications Office: Daniela Pitton +39 346 5941336 // ufficiostampa@mirumir.it // https://www.bfwe.it/
Dronitaly Press Office
Lead Communication
Anita Lissona - 335 498993 - anita.lissona@leadcom.it
Lorenzo Mazzoni – 349.8450008 – lorenzo.mazzoni@leadcom.it
