Aviation and Space News from Japan
Automatic Operation of Passenger Boarding Bridge under testing at Narita
Japanese news media Response reported the following:
A new fully automatic boarding bridge is being tested at Narita International Airport in Chiba, Japan. Airport personnel moves a lever, then a camera recognizes the position of the door and the bridge moves to a preposition point automatically.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Transportation and Construction Engineering, an affiliate of giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, announced with Narita International Airport Company on April 26 that they will work together to install the world’s first fully automatic passenger boarding bridge by applying ICT and IoT engineering.
The new concept is expected to enhance the efficiency of ground handling work at airport terminals and to ease stress due to labor shortage.
As the first trial, the automatic operation has started at gate 67 of Terminal 2 of Narita. Graphic analysis of the system recognizes the position of an aircraft door and it activates full automatic operation to move the bridge to the aircraft.
Future development includes a remote operation from tablet and simultaneous operation of two and more boarding bridges to an aircraft. Its final goal is a fully unmanned operation of a passenger boarding bridge as the first of its kind in the world in September 2025.
