Brussels Airport tests driverless shuttle bus

Brussels Airport has launched a pilot scheme to introduce its autonomous shuttle bus, designed to carry up to eight people – for example ferrying flight crew from the aircraft to the terminal.

This autonomous electric shuttle, which can travel at a maximum speed of 25 km/h, is being offered on a 1.5-kilometre route, the airport said. The journey takes around 10 minutes, with three stops during which employees can get on and off.

A safety officer is not only on hand to start and stop the shuttle, but also to monitor the smooth running of the journey and intervene if necessary. In total, the vehicle, developed by the New Zealand company Ohmio, will make 48 round trips during the experiment.

An in-depth analysis was carried out before the trial to ensure the shuttle’s safety, Brussels Airport said. The exact route was drawn up after mapping the airport’s critical points.

The pilot project will last three months and will assess whether and how autonomous vehicles could eventually be deployed at the airport. Employees will also be asked to evaluate their experience of this shuttle. The experiment is not accessible to the general public.

The project is part of the European Commission’s Stargate programme, which is designed to make the aviation sector more sustainable.

Launched in November 2021, together with a diverse consortium of 21 partners, Brussels Airport has taken the lead in this programme, which aims to develop innovative solutions to create “the green airports and aviation of the future”.

First developed and trialled in the mid-2000s, a self-driving or autonomous vehicle uses a combination of sensors, cameras, radar and artificial intelligence to travel between destinations without a human operator.

To qualify as fully autonomous, a vehicle must be able to navigate without human intervention to a predetermined destination over roads not specifically adapted for its use.

Companies developing and testing autonomous cars include Audi, BMW, Ford, Tesla, Volkswagen and Volvo.