Tata-sons owned Air India (AI) has become the latest airline in the country to announce eco-friendly taxiing through robot tractors, also known as TaxiBots, at Delhi and Bengaluru airports for some of its Airbus A320 family of aircraft. AI said the switch-over will help it save almost 15,000 tonnes of fuel consumption in three years.
AirAsia India and Air India Express, which are now being merged under the Air India group, along with SpiceJet, as well as cargo airlines BlueDart and Amazon Prime Air have already switched to TaxiBot operations in the country.
TaxiBots are designed by Israel Aerospace Industries and manufactured by TLD of France. It has been brought to Indian airports by solutions provider KSU Aviation, and is currently operational at Delhi and Bengaluru airports.
The TaxiBot is a semi-robotic towing tractor which is controlled by an airline pilot. Once attached to the aircraft, it acts as an extension of the aircraft’s nose landing gear and tows the aircraft close to the take off point without running engines. This helps in reducing fuel consumption, carbon emissions and noise levels as well as costs for airlines
One TaxiBot mission is estimated to save 200kg or 240 litre of Aviation Turbine Fuel, which at today’s rate of ₹98.3 per litre entails a saving of ₹23,592 for an airline for every taxiing event, explained Ashwani Khanna, founder of KSU Aviation. Additionally, 1 kg of ATF results in 3.6 kg of CO2, and therefore every taxiing operated by a TaxiBot can help save 625 kg of CO2, he added.
“As a responsible airline, Air India is constantly looking for ways to improve sustainability and manage our carbon footprint,” said Air India CEO Campbell Wilson in a press statement. He added that the collaboration with KSU will allow it to assess the capabilities of TaxiBots and take a decision for possibly implementing the initiative across Air India’s subsidiaries and other airports.
KSU Aviation currently has three taxibots, two of which are deployed in Delhi and one in Bengaluru. One taxibot can carry out 18-20 taxiing missions in a day. It will soon be adding two more of these tractors to its fleet. It is also in talks with the Airports Authority of India for TaxiBot operations at Chennai and Kolkata airports, and IndiGo too has held trials. While the TaxiBot operations are currently certified only for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families of aircraft, trials with BlueDart’s Boeing 757 have been conducted and certifications from Boeing are awaited.
KSU Aviation counts Turkish ground handling company Celebi Aviation as its major shareholder. According to Dr. Khanna, KSU Aviation is the world’s first solution provider for TaxiBots. It is also guiding Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport on introducing Taxibot operations by 2024, and is advising Eurocontrol (pan-European organisation for air traffic management) in drafting procedures for TaxiBot operations.
Air India’s announcement comes at a time there is a push for sustainability initiatives in the aviation industry and the International Air Transport Association, of which airlines like Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo are members, has pledged to reach net zero carbon emissions target by 2050.
This pledge brings air transport into line with the objectives of the Paris agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Governments have committed to decarbonisation of aviation as part of the Long Term Aspirational Goal (LTAG) on climate at the 41st Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in October 2022.
