Zurich Airport Runs WeRide Shuttles Without Onboard Safety Drivers

Zurich Airport said two WeRide Robobus employee shuttles are now running fully automated on the airfield with no safety driver on board, monitored from a remote cockpit, after the first fully automated trips began in early September.

Sam Okonkwo, Robotaxi · Sept. 21, 2026 · 4 min

ZURICH - Zurich Airport said two WeRide Robobus employee shuttles are now running fully automated on the airfield with no safety driver on board, monitored from a remote cockpit, after the first fully automated trips began in early September.

Zurich Airport Ltd. framed the change as its targeted Level 4 step in a phased pilot with Chinese autonomous-driving company WeRide that started in March 2025. "As one of the first airports in Europe, two shuttle buses are now operating fully automated on the airport premises, with no safety driver on board," the airport said in a Sept. 9 newsroom release. Monitoring is handled from a remote cockpit, and former onboard safety drivers have been retrained for that role.

The vehicles serve as employee shuttles on a defined airside route that does not cross aircraft taxiways. Staff from partners Swissport and Krummen Kerzers staff the remote cockpit and can intervene if needed. Over about a year and a half, the two buses have covered more than 15,000 kilometers while the partners built safety processes and tested technical and operational procedures, the airport said.

Initial Level 4 runs are again passenger-free. Raphaël Glaesener, senior innovation manager at Zurich Airport Ltd., said the airport expects employees to use the now fully automated shuttle after around four weeks of test operation. The pilot with the two vehicles is planned through the end of 2026, with a possible continuation under review with project partners. Electrek and Travel PR News both covered the Sept. 9 update, noting remote supervision rather than an onboard human monitor.

Coralie Klaus Boecker, head of the ZRH Innovation Hub, said gradual vehicle automation can help airports facing skilled-worker shortages and that the project is meant to create conditions for safe automated-vehicle use by the airport and its partners. The program remains an employee-transport trial on a segregated airside corridor, not a public passenger terminal service.

Sam Okonkwo, Robotaxi. Sam Okonkwo is a senior correspondent covering robotaxis, fleet ops, and paid driverless service. Previously reported transport tech for trade titles; based in Austin.