{
  "id": 12857046,
  "title": "Tallinn Airport lets driverless shuttles run close to airplanes, opening the way to wider airport automation",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/tallinn-airport-lets-driverless-shuttles-run-close-to-airplanes",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-08T11:20:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euronews",
    "slug": "euronews",
    "url": "https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/08/tallinn-airport-lets-driverless-shuttles-run-close-to-airplanes-opening-the-way-to-wider-a"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At Tallinn Airport, Estonian firm Auve Tech has launched driverless shuttles that operate near parked planes for the first time, without a safety operator onboard. The shuttle service, called MiCa, transports workers, tools, and spare parts between aircraft maintenance facilities. Operating such shuttles in an airport environment requires adhering to numerous safety regulations, which proved challenging for Auve Tech. The company's safety board reviewed the shuttles' performance data every week during testing, gathering vast amounts of data. The shuttles are equipped with ten cameras and seven laser-based sensors to 360-degree view their surroundings and navigate safely. The remote operator watches over the shuttle's decision-making process, intervening only in case of a glitch. Auve Tech's Chairman, Taavi Rõivas, believes that the cost of a safety operator onboard is not economically viable, and with three vehicles per operator, the automated shuttle service can match the price of human-driven vehicles. Magnetic Group's CEO, Risto Mäeots, noted that human drivers caused reliability issues, including sickness and staff turnover. The company is now looking to scale the autonomous shuttle model to other closed environments, such as corporate campuses, and hopes to see it deployed at larger airports worldwide within the next decade.",
  "summary": "Euronews Next exclusive: A driverless shuttle now carries aircraft workers and spare parts at Tallinn Airport, with no safety agents on board.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}