Japan Airlines and Toyota Industries will begin trials in November 2026 to extend autonomous towing routes at Tokyo Haneda Airport. The new routes include tunnels, where driving environments and operating conditions differ from those on the routes already in use.
Testing more demanding routes
The companies announced the plan on October 30. A Toyota Industries autonomous towing tractor will be used to assess the requirements and challenges of Level 4 transport operations on the additional routes.
In the announcement, Level 4 means fully unmanned operation under specific conditions. The trials will also test coordination with new shared infrastructure being developed by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, or JCAB.
Building on existing Haneda operations
JAL says it began commercial Level 4 autonomous towing at Haneda on December 15, 2025, using shared JCAB infrastructure including signalling equipment and cameras. November’s trials therefore concern expanding the range of routes and operating conditions for the technology.
The partners aim to improve ground-handling efficiency and reduce labour demands. They also cite lower environmental impact from electric vehicles and the possibility of applying the technology at more airports in future. Those are project objectives; the announcement provides no measured results from the upcoming trials.
No exact November start day, number of vehicles or timetable for wider airport deployment was given.
Source: Toyota Industries’ October 30 joint announcement with JAL.
