Amsterdam Schiphol will test the use of self-driving buses on the airport apron this spring.
Royal Schiphol Group is partnering on the project with Dutch consultancy nlmtd and TNW, a company that “connects businesses, governments, investors and start-ups to drive innovation and accelerate sustainability and digital transformation” .
Jan Zekveld, head of innovation at Royal Schiphol Group, said the airport needed to innovate in order to achieve its ambition of becoming the most sustainable airport in the world, adding that it was expected that day-to-day operations on the Schiphol apron “have changed significantly by 2050”. ”.
“Ground activities such as baggage handling, passenger transport and aircraft towing will not only be clean, but also smart and autonomous,” Zekveld said.
“We have already taken the first steps in this area with TNW and nlmtd. We will be running a trial of self-driving buses on the Schiphol apron this spring. This way we can determine which follow-up steps are needed in the future.
Meanwhile, Arno Nijhof, TNW Director of Programs, said “Where many companies scale back their innovation efforts in difficult times, Schiphol sees innovation as a solution.”
“We look forward to finding solutions on the market that enable autonomous transportation or make it easier for employees to work, and to collaborate with external innovators to improve air quality,” said Nijhof.
“Our goal is to help Schiphol become a more sustainable and future-proof organization, and we are confident that this collaboration will contribute to that.”
Last month, Schiphol announced a new partnership with technology company Pangiam, to explore how artificial intelligence could be used to speed up the baggage security screening process.
Amsterdam Schiphol will explore the use of AI to speed up baggage screening