Air India Becomes First Airline In The World To Use Taxibot On Commercial Airbus Flight

Air India Becomes First Airline In The World To Use Taxibot On Commercial Airbus Flight

• The National carrier Air India has created history on October 15, 2019 as it became the first airline in the world to use TaxiBot as alternate taxiing equipment on its Airbus A320 with passengers onboard.
• TaxiBot is a pilot-controlled, semi-robotic aircraft tractor to tow an aircraft from parking bay to runway, while the plane’s engines are switched off.
• The TaxiBot successfully towed a commercial Air India flight carrying passengers from Delhi to Mumbai to the runway for take-off on October 15 at Indira Gandhi International Airport.
• The tractor has been developed by Israel Aerospace Industries in partnership with a French company. A total of 40 Taxibots will be deployed at airports across the county.

Benefits of using TaxiBot

• Save around 85 percent of the fuel the plane would normally use at that time
• Cut down CO2 emissions. Up to 800 kilograms are emitted for every 15 minutes from parking to runway.
• Noise pollution levels are expected to drop by about 60 percent.