'Runway painting robots save time, money'

Robots have taken over the task of repainting airfield markings at Hong Kong International Airport, significantly reducing the time and cost involved in the process. According to Airport Authority chief operating officer Steven Yiu, the airport is now the first in the world to utilize robots for this task. The machines were introduced in September after a year of testing.

Markings across the airport's three runways, covering over 11 kilometres, need regular repainting to maintain pilot visibility. Some markings, which come into frequent contact with planes, require weekly maintenance. Yiu stated that more than half of the painting work can now be entrusted to the robots, which handle simple, standard lines while human staff focus on curves and complex markings.

The robots have cut the time needed to paint centrelines from three hours to one hour, and the amount of paint sprayed is precisely controlled, resulting in annual savings of HK$400,000. Working hours have also been reduced by roughly two-thirds. The robots were originally developed for painting lines in sports stadiums and were then repurposed through a joint development project with a Shenzhen technology firm. Yiu hopes that robotic runway painting will eventually become a civil aviation standard.