AV company enters Europe with Zurich airport launch
12 January 2025
by Jonathan Andrews
Zurich will deploy WeRide’s first commercial autonomous bus shuttle at a European airport in the first quarter of this year.
The Chinese company’s bus can accommodate nine passengers and will serve airport employees along a dedicated route connecting the employee entrance to the maintenance area.
WeRide said that the initial phase will include a safety driver on board, with plans to transition to remote monitoring operations. Before testing the autonomous vehicle’s operations, WeRide’s autonomous taxi, Robotaxi, completed route mapping at Zurich Airport.
“WeRide possesses a fully developed and thoroughly tested technology,” said a spokesperson from Flughafen Zürich AG. “[It] meets all of the legal and safety requirements in place at Zurich Airport and guarantees that it will meet the data protection requirements set out.”
Zurich airport’s location at the base of the Alps poses significant challenges not only for pilots but also for autonomous driving technology due to complex operational environment and climatic conditions. WeRide said that it has successfully factored in these challenges with its solution.
Flughafen Zürich AG is working with airports in Brussels and Amsterdam that are also testing technologies for autonomous vehicles.
The Zurich airport service follows a deployment in Paris, where Robobus provided shuttle services on a five-kilometre route during the French Open.
The company will work with Swiss Transit Lab to ensure smooth operation of the service.
