A large gathering of unusual and special airport vehicles! Introducing JAL's working vehicles

There are a wide variety of vehicles at work at airports. You can encounter special vehicles that you would never see on public roads. In this article, we will introduce JAL's vehicles that work at airports. Among them, we will rate the rarest ones with a three-star rating, based on their "rarity." First, let's start with the towing vehicles that powerfully pull large airplanes and containers.

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"Towing tractors" are relatively familiar to our customers

The most common vehicle in the airport is the towing tractor. It carries passenger baggage from the airport terminal to the aircraft, transports cargo, and runs around the airport. One of the first qualifications that ground handling staff obtain is the qualification to operate a towing tractor.

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The "Autonomous Towing Tractor" took three years to implement

Among the towing tractors, there are only two at Narita Airport called "Autonomous Towing Tractors," which, as the name suggests, are autonomous vehicles. By combining self-location estimation functions such as GNSS and a sensor called LiDAR, the vehicle can identify people, buildings, other vehicles, etc. and drive autonomously.

The background to the introduction was the concern that there would be a shortage of ground handling staff in the near future due to the decline in the working-age population. In response to this situation, JAL has decided to actively promote the use of cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous driving in order to improve productivity.

"Thus began the preparation and demonstration experiment of the 'Autonomous Towing Tractor.' However, preparations envisioning a space where many aircraft, vehicles, and people are mixed together often did not go as planned, and we continued with painstaking work, such as removing weeds that the sensor would mistakenly recognize as obstacles, and setting up containers to represent obstacles and repeating test runs."

"The data we needed to carry out the experiment was collected during late-night hours when there were no planes taking off or landing, and we worked with the manufacturer to improve the performance," said Hiroshi Kamata of the Ground Handling Planning Department.

It has been about three years since the decision to begin the experiment. In addition, after going through approval processes from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and related businesses, the "autonomous towing tractor" was fully introduced in March 2021. Currently, the vehicle runs with a driver on board to enable auxiliary external monitoring by human eyes and emergency stopping operations, but the goal is to realize unmanned operation in the future.

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A specially painted towing car with prayers for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic

When you board an airplane, you can hardly see them from the cabin window because they are located at the front of the aircraft, but the vehicles that push and pull the plane are very powerful. A "conventional towing car" connects an iron bar called a towbar to the aircraft and pulls it. Among them, there is one that is unusual. At Narita Airport, there is one that is specially painted with the image of Amabie, a monster that is said to ward off epidemics.

This project was conceived and realized by the on-site staff with the hope of ending the COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible and the desire to provide safety and security to customers using Narita Airport. There is only one of these units in circulation. Be sure to look for it when you are using Narita Airport.

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The strongest man at the airport! The "Towbarless Towing Car" that pulls the plane

One of the most powerful towing cars is called the "towbarless towing car."

It also crawls under the aircraft to lift it up and push it off the tarmac when it's time to take off. It's the most powerful car at the airport.

By the way, towing an aircraft is a delicate operation. Of course, training is conducted by towing a real airplane, but JAL has introduced a training program that incorporates VR technology. The driving sensation of towing a real airplane is reproduced in a virtual space.

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It looks like a staircase, but it's actually a car! "Passenger Step"

Well, in addition to "pulling" vehicles, there are other specialized vehicles used for various purposes at airports. One of these vehicles that customers use is the "Passenger Step." Normally, if you are coming from the terminal, you head to the plane via a "Passenger Boarding Bridge (PBB)." However, when boarding a plane that is parked away from the terminal, you travel by bus and then climb up a flight of stairs to board the plane, and these stairs are actually part of the working vehicle family.

In rainy weather, closure curtains provide protection from the wind and rain, and since the COVID-19 outbreak, handrails and other objects that customers may touch have been coated with an anti-viral coating in an effort to provide safety and security to our customers.

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A powerful machine that efficiently loads huge containers onto aircraft. "High Lift Loader"

When traveling through the airport by bus or other means, have you ever seen a container being lifted onto a parked aircraft? This is a vehicle called a "high lift loader." Its role is to efficiently load containers loaded with luggage and cargo onto the aircraft. Since the height of an aircraft changes depending on the number of passengers and the weight of the cargo, the height of the vehicle is adjusted each time to match the aircraft.

By the way, while it may look like it is attached to the aircraft during operation, it is actually slightly separated so as not to come into contact with the aircraft. It is a very large vehicle, but delicate operation is required. In addition, some of the latest high-lift loaders are equipped with sensors to prevent contact with the aircraft.

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Leave the loading onto the plane to us! "High Lift Truck"

The vehicle that is used to transport in-flight meals and in-flight supplies is the "high-lift truck," which has a liftable cargo area. Inside the truck are carts for loading in-flight meals and magazines to be placed in the seat pockets.

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"Belt loaders" are useful for loading not only small aircraft but also large aircraft.

Airplanes have cargo holds where individual pieces of baggage or cargo can be carried.
In order to safely and carefully load baggage and cargo into these cargo holds, conveyor belts are used, and the vehicle that performs this function is called a "belt loader."

On rainy days, the roof at the rear of the vehicle is deployed to keep customers' important luggage dry.

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A "water tanker" that can hold more than 3,000 liters of water on a flat body

A "water tanker" is a vehicle that carries water for use in on-board restrooms, etc.

The vehicle has a low, flat body so that it can slip under the aircraft. The internal tank can hold 3,000 to 3,500 liters of water, which is pumped into the aircraft using a hose from the rear of the vehicle.

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The "De-icing Car" is a winter-only special vehicle

In Japan, where there are four seasons, the "de-icing car" is a vehicle that appears in the winter. Workers riding on a gondola at the end of a long arm not only remove frost and snow from the aircraft, but also spray a special chemical that prevents snow and ice from adhering. This is a very important job to ensure safe operation in the winter. Incidentally, even in areas where it doesn't snow much, they are used to defrost early in the morning.

Please pay attention not only to flying planes but also to working vehicles.

While your eyes may be drawn to the big planes at the airport, there are also many special vehicles like the ones we introduced here that are actively running around the airport in every direction.

And just like airplanes, they are packed with the latest technology and ingenuity to carry out operations safely. Please also pay attention to the work of the staff who operate them safely and efficiently. If you look outside the window before your flight, the view of the airport may look different than usual.

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