Two WeRide buses are now running without onboard safety drivers under remote supervision, with employee passenger service expected after an initial four-week test phase.
Zurich Airport’s automated employee shuttle project has entered its Level 4 phase, with two buses now operating without an onboard safety driver under remote supervision.
- Two automated employee shuttle buses at Zurich Airport began operating without onboard safety drivers in early September 2026.
- Zurich Airport describes the new remote-supervised configuration as its targeted Level 4 automation phase.
- The buses have covered more than 15,000 kilometres during the phased trial, which has been running with WeRide since March 2025.
- Initial Level 4 trips are passenger-free, with employee use expected after about four weeks of testing and the current pilot scheduled through the end of 2026.
(NEWS) ZURICH, Switzerland, 2026-Sep-09 — /Travel PR News/ — Zurich Airport has removed the onboard safety driver from two automated employee shuttles, moving a long-running airport mobility trial into what the operator describes as its targeted Level 4 phase.
The first fully automated journeys began in early September 2026, according to Zurich Airport Ltd.’s Sept. 9 project update. The buses now complete their defined route independently while personnel supervise operations from a remote cockpit and can provide support if required.
For now, the Level 4 runs are taking place without passengers. The airport expects employees to begin using the driverless shuttles after around four weeks of further testing, provided the latest phase proceeds as planned.
Remote monitoring replaces the onboard safety driver
The two vehicles operate as employee shuttles on a segregated airport route that does not cross aircraft taxiways. Swissport and Krummen Kerzers employees staff the remote cockpit, including former onboard safety drivers who have been retrained for the new supervisory role.
The change is significant because it shifts human oversight from inside each vehicle to a central monitoring position. Raphaël Glaesener, Senior Innovation Manager at Zurich Airport Ltd., said the longer-term operating model could become more efficient because one employee may eventually be able to monitor several buses rather than travelling in a single vehicle.
Zurich Airport stresses that removing the driver does not mean eliminating human involvement. The buses drive the route themselves, while the remote team observes their operation and can intervene with assistance when necessary.
During the previous phase of the project, Zurich Airport explained that a vehicle encountering an unexpected obstacle would stop automatically, allowing staff in the remote cockpit to assess the situation and support subsequent manoeuvres. The remote-monitoring infrastructure was installed at the ZRH Innovation Hub in The Circle as the airport prepared to progress beyond its earlier Level 3 operation.
More than 15,000 kilometres of testing preceded the change
Zurich Airport and technology partner WeRide have been developing the automated-driving project on the airport grounds since March 2025. Over roughly a year and a half, the two buses have accumulated more than 15,000 kilometres while the partners developed safety processes and tested technical and operational procedures.
The rollout has deliberately been divided into stages. At the beginning of each new phase, tests were first conducted without passengers before employees were allowed aboard. In June 2025, staff began riding the shuttles while an onboard safety driver remained ready to intervene, a stage the airport described at the time as automation Level 3.
The route was initially designed between the employee access point at Gate 101 and the works yard at Gate 130, with several stops and no crossings of aircraft taxiways. Zurich Airport selected the corridor because its separation from active aircraft movements created a more controlled environment for introducing automated vehicles.
Coralie Klaus Boecker, Head of the ZRH Innovation Hub at Zurich Airport Ltd., said the airport sees gradual vehicle automation as one possible response to emerging skilled-labour shortages. She added that the project is intended to establish practical conditions for safe automated-vehicle deployment both by the airport operator and its partners.
A test case for automation in tightly controlled airport environments
Airports present a particularly demanding setting for autonomous ground vehicles because operations combine strict safety rules, access restrictions, specialised infrastructure and interactions among many independent companies. Zurich’s cautious progression from mapping and test runs to onboard supervision and now remote oversight reflects those constraints.
When the project was announced in late 2024, Zurich Airport said it was working with the Swiss Transit Lab and had selected WeRide as the automated-driving technology provider. The airport also noted that it was exchanging experience with other European airports, including Brussels and Amsterdam, that were exploring automated-vehicle applications.
The current milestone puts the emphasis on learning how remote supervision works in everyday airport operations rather than on immediate large-scale deployment. Zurich Airport says the findings will help shape future uses of automated vehicles by companies operating across the airport campus.
Current trial is scheduled to run through the end of 2026
Operation of the two shuttle buses is presently planned through the end of 2026. Zurich Airport and its project partners are reviewing whether the trial with the same vehicles should continue beyond that point.
Regardless of that decision, the airport says the operational and safety findings will feed into potential future automated-vehicle applications. That makes the current driverless phase an important test not only of the buses themselves, but also of how airport employees, remote operators and autonomous systems can share responsibility in a safety-critical environment.
The project remains an employee-transport trial rather than a passenger-facing airport service. Travellers can continue to find current flight, terminal, transport and airport-service information through the Zurich Airport passenger portal.
