Zurich Airport has moved two autonomous employee shuttle buses to driverless operation at pilot stage, removing the safety person from onboard duties on a fixed airside route. The shuttles, used for staff transport at the airport, remain under remote supervision and do not cross aircraft taxiways.
The vehicles have been running since March 2025 and have already covered more than 15,000 kilometres. Former safety drivers have been retrained for remote-cockpit roles with Swissport and Krummen Kerzers, where staff can intervene if required. After around four weeks of test running without passengers, employees are expected to begin using the service again.
The pilot is due to continue until the end of 2026, keeping the project as a live test of airport automation and ground transport operations. Zurich Airport has presented the two buses as part of a broader push to assess how far autonomous vehicles can be integrated safely into controlled airport environments.