{"id":1906590,"date":"2026-04-28T10:03:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1906590"},"modified":"2026-04-28T10:03:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T07:03:46","slug":"japan-airlines-trials-humanoid-robots-as-ground-handlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1906590","title":{"rendered":"Japan Airlines trials humanoid robots as ground handlers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/b0db\/live\/25dd4f70-42e9-11f1-9516-81393c122a1a.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 jTWPCV\">\n<figure class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 laOREU\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 ciXMDU\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-5340b511-1 cMIbKV\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260427-074339-4d487e3684-web-3.2.0-4\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b0db\/live\/25dd4f70-42e9-11f1-9516-81393c122a1a.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Kyodo via AP A humanoid robot pushes a cargo container during a media demonstration at Haneda airport in Tokyo on April 27, 2026. Japan Airlines will test the use of such robots at the airport from May, as the airline aims for their practical use in ground handling tasks, such as cargo loading and unloading, in 2028 amid a chronic manpower shortage\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"><span class=\"sc-5340b511-2 jVqbAn\">Kyodo via AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 gmICnp\"><figcaption class=\"sc-69115734-0 jsSfKy\">Robots are already being used in some airports across Japan, including for security patrol and retail<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">Japan Airlines (JAL) will start using humanoid robots in ground handling tasks at Tokyo&#8217;s Haneda airport from May, in a two-year trial it said is aimed at easing employees&#8217; workload.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">For a start, the Chinese-made robots will be deployed to load and unload cargo containers, JAL and GMO AI &amp; Robotics, its partner in the project, said in a demonstration to the media on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">Japan&#8217;s aviation industry is wrestling with a labour crunch brought on by an increase in inbound tourism and a declining working-age population, said JAL, which employs some 4,000 ground handling staff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">The carrier hopes that these robots can also be used to clean cabins and operate ground support equipment in future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">Robots are already being used in some airports across Japan, including for security patrol and retail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">Japan welcomed more than seven million foreign visitors in the first two months of this year, according to statistics from JTB Group, which runs Japan&#8217;s largest travel agency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">&#8220;While airports appear highly automated and standardised, their back-end operations still rely heavily on human labour and face serious labour shortages,&#8221; GMO AI &amp; Robotics&#8217; president Tomohiro Uchida told reporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">Using robots for physically demanding tasks will &#8220;provide significant benefits to employees&#8221;, Kyodo news agency quoted Yoshiteru Suzuk, the president of JAL&#8217;s Ground Service, saying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-9cd5bb24-0 lmzibM\">\n<div class=\"sc-cd6075cf-0 DQtHs\">\n<div class=\"sc-82b3c53b-0 IAFLu\">\n<p class=\"sc-1a18e57c-0 HooNV\">But he noted that some duties, including safety management, can only be handled by humans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cpwp87j1llvo&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/b0db\/live\/25dd4f70-42e9-11f1-9516-81393c122a1a.jpg&#8221;] Kyodo via AP Robots are already being used in some airports across Japan, including for security patrol and retail Japan Airlines (JAL) will start using humanoid robots in ground handling tasks at Tokyo&#8217;s Haneda airport from May, in a two-year trial it said is aimed at easing employees&#8217; workload. For a start, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-1906590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1906590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1906590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1906590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1906590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}