Zurich Airport removes drivers from automated shuttles

Zurich Airport has begun operating two Level 4 automated shuttle buses without onboard safety drivers following more than 15,000 kilometres of testing.

The vehicles have operated fully autonomously on a defined three-kilometre route since early September, monitored by staff in a remote cockpit. The shuttles transport airport employees but do not cross aircraft taxiways.

The milestone follows an 18-month pilot undertaken with autonomous driving technology provider WeRide. Testing focused on the technical, operational and regulatory demands of deploying automated vehicles in an airport environment.

Raphaël Glaesener, Senior Innovation Manager at Zurich Airport, told the Airports AI Alliance that the vehicles had to learn to navigate apron-specific situations, including interactions with aircraft pushback vehicles, baggage transports pulling multiple trailers and other priority vehicles.

Raphaël Glaesener, Senior Innovation Manager at Zurich Airport

“At the same time, the project had to meet extensive regulatory and safety requirements before operations without an onboard safety driver could begin,” he said.

Former safety drivers have been trained to monitor the buses remotely. One operator currently oversees one vehicle at a time and can provide guidance in exceptional circumstances, but does not drive it remotely.

Cases where the automated driving system could respond more effectively are documented and passed to WeRide to inform further development. Zurich Airport aims to reduce the frequency with which remote operators must provide support as the technology matures.

“This phase allows us to further improve the system,” Glaesener said. “The aim is to continuously reduce the need for support from the remote cockpit as the technology matures.”

Zurich Airport has not set a target for how many buses each employee could eventually monitor, although higher ratios are technically possible. Achieving them would require the automated driving system to manage increasingly complex airport situations without assistance.

“For Zurich Airport, one of the main reasons for exploring this technology is its potential to address the growing shortage of skilled workers,” Glaesener said. “The pilot project allows us to gain practical experience and assess where automated vehicles can meaningfully support airport operations in the future.”

Each stage of the trial has begun without passengers before employees were permitted to use the service. The first Level 4 journeys are following the same process, with staff expected to begin travelling on the driverless shuttles after approximately four weeks of testing.

The two-bus pilot is scheduled to continue until the end of 2026. Zurich Airport and its project partners are considering a possible extension and assessing other potential applications.

“We are currently evaluating potential future applications, but no decisions have yet been made regarding specific routes or use cases beyond the current pilot,” Glaesener said.

Main image: Zurich Airport