Changi Airport Rolls Out Driverless Tractors for Baggage Handling

SINGAPORE: Changi Airport has deployed its first fleet of fully driverless tractors for airside operations after nearly a year of trials. Two autonomous tractors have been rolled out in live operations to transfer passenger bags between Terminal 1's and Terminal 4’s baggage handling areas, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said on Tuesday (Jan 20). The project, co-funded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), aligns with Changi Airport’s broader innovation strategy, the group noted. This strategy includes the integration of autonomous technology into airside operations, the use of AI in initiatives, as well as automation and robotics to increase manpower productivity, it said. “The milestone marks a significant leap in Changi Airport’s push for innovation and operational efficiency, raising manpower productivity while enhancing safety and reliability,” CAG added. Each autonomous tractor has more than 10 sensors and cameras to enable the vehicles to safely navigate the airside environment in all conditions. The tractors are also monitored in a control centre where a remote operator can step in immediately if human intervention is required. The autonomous fleet will free up airside workers from driving tasks and let them focus on last-mile operations, which are more difficult to automate, CAG said. “Through collaborating with our airport partners to redesign work processes and infrastructural policies, we are shaping a future-proofed working environment where autonomous vehicles can function safely and seamlessly with other human-driven vehicles, with workers focusing on last-mile operations,” said CAG’s senior vice president of airport operations strategy and transformation Liu Yanling. To ensure the tractors operate safely alongside workers, clear autonomous vehicle (AV) zone markings have been painted in the airside, with clear labels also attached to all AVs. AUTONOMOUS FLEET TO BE EXPANDED Later this year, another six autonomous tractors will be deployed to a different route between Terminal 2’s baggage handling area and aircraft stands to support baggage operations under a CAG-SATS collaboration. The collaboration will translate into “more reliable baggage handling and smoother aircraft turnarounds, supporting on-time departures and a seamless airport experience”, said SATS Apron Services senior vice president Kuah Boon Kiam. By 2027, the driverless fleet will be expanded to 24 vehicles, with more autonomous tractors deployed to tow cargo and equipment, in addition to baggage, CAG said. “As Changi scales up to meet the operational requirements of Terminal 5 by the mid-2030s, such innovations will enable CAG and its partners to redesign and upgrade the job scopes of airside workers, to improve their productivity,” the group said. “Such productivity improvements and upgrading of airside roles are critical to grow the Singapore air hub to meet the future demands of air travel.” In July last year, CAAS’ aviation jobs transformation report indicated that up to 30 per cent of the existing workforce could experience job redesign and transformation over the next five years, with the majority of them in the ground handling sector. “The scaled deployment of autonomous tractors allows CAAS, CAG, SATS and our unions to work together to implement the technology, develop new systems and protocols, and set up job redesign programmes to help our workers adopt technology and transition to higher-value work,” said CAAS' director of aviation industry Angela Ng. “Lessons learnt here will be useful for the sector’s wider technology adoption and job transformation efforts.”