april2023 - 8

Business Buzz
TOP NEWS
Autonomous Vehicle Testing
in Singapore To Focus on the
Aircraft Stand, ULD Loading
Aurrigo International has signed a
formal partnership agreement with
Changi Airport Group (CAG) for the continued
joint development and testing of
the company's advanced autonomous,
electric baggage vehicles: Auto-Dolly
and Auto-DollyTug, and the company's
airport simulation software platform:
Auto-Sim.
Phase 2 testing will focus on the
aircraft stand. With its small footprint
and tight turning radius, the Auto-Dolly
can maneuver itself precisely next to an
aircraft and ground support equipment
(GSE). In addition, it has the capability to
transfer a unit load device (ULD) to and
from a Skyloader, which loads the plane.
According to Aurrigo, CAG is the first
airport in the world to test the equipment's
ability to perform autonomous
loading and unloading of ULDs at the
aircraft stand.
" We have worked closely with the
team at Changi Airport for several
years and this partnership cements
our collaboration to bring the best
automated solutions to airlines and
airports, enabling them to improve
operational efficiency, cost and safety
and sustainability, " said David Keene,
CEO of Aurrigo.
" We have been testing the electric
and autonomous Auto-Dolly in real
airport environments since 2018 and
we have used that testing and customer
feedback to continuously develop
a vehicle that can operate safely and
efficiently in the safety critical environment
of an airport apron. "
" Similar to major airports throughout
the world, recruiting enough ground
handling personnel and drivers to support
our growth is a challenge. We have
been encouraged by Aurrigo's innovative
autonomous technologies to help
address these issues, and we're excited
to partner Aurrigo in joint development
and testing of these solutions in the real
world, " added Poh Li San, SVP of Terminal
5 planning, Changi Airport Group.
The development and testing of Aurrigo's
autonomous vehicles is partially
funded by the Civil Aviation Authority
of Singapore (CAAS) through its Aviation
Development Fund (ADF).
Upcoming Events
May 2-4
NBAA Maintenance Conference
Hartford, CT
May 16-18
IATA Ground Handling Conference
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
June 3-5
AAAE Annual Conference & Expo
Denver, CO
June 19-21
GSE&RAMP-OPS Global
Seville, Spain
July 24-30
EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh, WI
SATS Joins IATA
Environmental Program
SATS Ltd. has joined the IATA Environmental
Assessment (IEnvA) Program
for ground handling service providers,
making SATS the first ground handler in
Asia Pacific to join.
An ecosystem partner in the Changi
Aviation Hub, SATS has invested in
8 || Ground Support Worldwide || April 2023
solarization, optimization and electrification
programs to reduce its carbon
footprint. For example, the company has
converted 262 tractors and 141 forklifts
deployed across its operations to electric.
" Sustainability is an ecosystem play,
and not one player can solve the problems
alone. Aligning ourselves with international
best practices in environmental
management allows SATS to plug into
IATA's platform to introduce world-class
standards to the partners we support.
Using IEnvA's standards to guide our performance,
we create a bigger impact with
our sustainability initiatives by adding to
the efforts of other players in the ecosystem
using this same standard, " said Bob
Chi, CEO of Gateway Services, SATS Ltd.
april2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of april2023
