New project within SESAR 3 JU portfolio unlocks the potential of AI-powered ground operations at airports
SESAR JU is tapping into the potential of Artificial Intelligence to transform airport ground operations. Launched in September, the new project branded by SJU and called ASTAIR (Auto-Steer Taxi at AIRport) will develop an AI-enabled tool to support a wide variety of ground procedures. The overall aim? To optimize resources, and enhance the safety and efficiency of a wide range of airside operations at the airport.
This collaborative endeavour involves a number of partners, including ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile – Project Coordinator, France), Delft University of Technology (Netherlands), Deep Blue (Italy), EUROCONTROL (Belgium) and Groupe ADP – Aéroports de Paris (France).
ASTAIR will use AI to prompt actions, such as providing clearances to vehicles on the airport aprons and taxiways according to optimal routes and managing fleets of autonomous tugs to further enhance ground capacity. While automation will be at the forefront, human-centred tools are requisite to supervise, predict, and seamlessly integrate human intervention whenever necessary to fully harness its potential. A key focus of ASTAIR will be in optimising humans and AI interaction by tailoring intelligent systems to operators’ modus operandi, ensuring logical consistency across manual and automated control.
