Pilot-controlled Taxibot for KLM passenger flight
December 12, 2024
KLM has successfully used a ‘Taxibot’ tow vehicle to manoeuvre its first aircraft from the gate to the runway at Amsterdam Schiphol. Although a hybrid (part electric, part fossil-fuel powered), KLM hopes the Taxibot could be fully-electric in the future.
Resembling a standard vehicle, “the difference is that the Taxibot is controlled by the pilot of the aircraft during taxiing and not by the tractor driver,” explains KLM. After a ground handler couples it to the aircraft, the Taxibot tows the vehicle to the runway, where it undocks before the pilot starts the aircraft’s engines. All pilots must be trained to operate the new technology.
The introduction of the Taxibot will initially focus on the narrowbody fleet, starting with the 737 before expanding to the new A321neo and the Embraer. KLM concluded that its aim to “expand taxiing with a Taxibot at Schipol in the coming years” will nevertheless entail “major, drastic changes to infrastructure, processes and technology”. Ongoing trials will now determine “how the Taxibot can be integrated into daily operations”.
