Japanese Airport Trialing Humanoid Robots as Baggage Handlers
Japan Airlines and GMO AI & Robotics will trial humanoid robots as baggage handlers at Tokyo's Haneda airport starting in May, aiming to alleviate labor shortages by 2028. The robots, built by Chinese company Unitree, will be tested in a busy airport environment serving over 60 million passengers annually.
Japan Airlines, in partnership with GMO AI & Robotics, is trialing humanoid robots to assist baggage handlers at Tokyo's Haneda airport. The trial, set to begin in May and run until 2028, aims to address labor shortages. The robots, built by Unitree, a Chinese robotics company, were demonstrated pushing a metal container stacked with suitcases towards a passenger jet, although the movement was actually facilitated by a conveyor belt. Haneda airport is one of the world's busiest, serving over 60 million passengers per year. GMO AI & Robotics' president Tomohiro Uchida stated that airports' back-end operations still rely heavily on human labor and face serious labor shortages. The trial will test the robots' capabilities in a challenging environment.
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