As countries gain momentum for the introduction of new technologies in the field of airside operations and ground handling against a backdrop of a shortage of human resources, efforts are needed to facilitate the smooth introduction of autonomous vehicles in airports, while paying attention to the safety of aircraft operations and ground personnel. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) organised two exchange visits to share knowledge and experience on the specific challenges of operating autonomous vehicles in airports, the technologies to address these, and the development of operational guidance rules or standards to deal with them.

The first visit was held from 20-21 February to Oslo Gardermoen Airport, where participants discussed the regulators’ view on technological developments, success factors that enable application of autonomous vehicle solutions and the case of autonomous snow removal. Many other innovative autonomous vehicle solutions were presented or demonstrated. In addition to the authorities (EASA, JCAB, and Civil Aviation Authority Norway), contributions were made by Avinor AS (Oslo Gardermoen and Stavanger airports), YetiMove AS, Roboxi AS, AVINXT AS, the Association of Air Transport Engineering and Research (ATEC), Dynamic Map Platform Co. Ltd., and Øveraasen AS.

The second visit took place from 11-13 March in Tokyo, where the focus of the programme was on use of, and challenges and solutions for the introduction of autonomous vehicles in airport operations, including development of common infrastructure and standardisation of applicable technologies. Both Tokyo Haneda Airport and Tokyo Narita Airport were visited by the group of participants for live demonstrations of autonomous vehicles. At this event, additional contributors to the exchange include Haneda Airport, ANA/TOYOTA, TIER IV Inc., Narita Airport, Japan Airlines, and Mitsubishi.