The Dutch flag carrier KLM has started live trials of a self-driving bus which will take pilots and flight attendants to and from their planes at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for the rest of July.
The airline is set to test an autonomous self-driving bus created by Ohmio which will take KLM CityHopper aircrew from where their plane is parked at Apron A of Schipol Airport to the terminal building.
The live trial follows an earlier testing of the self-driving busses which looked at technical features and ease of use. Now, the busses will be deployed on the apron to see whether they can handle the busy airside environment of an airport.
Of course, there are plenty of self-driving vehicle trials going on around the world, although this is potentially the first one to be taking place on the tarmac of one of the busiest airports in the world.
“We’re curious about the insights we’ll gain at this location, particularly because punctuality and safety is crucial on this route,” commented Jan Zekveld, Schiphols head of innovation.
In other words, is the self-driving bus going to be slower or more dangerous than a human driver doing the same job?
This technology isn’t going be used for passenger transport anytime soon but depending on the results of the latest trial, Schiphol will be looking to rollout self-driving vehicles even further at the airport.
