Using Taxibots will bring down fuel consumption
Air India on Tuesday became the first airline in the world to use a Taxibot on a A320 aircraft with passengers on-board. Taxibot is a robot-used aircraft tractor for taxiing an aircraft from parking bay to runway and vice versa.
On Tuesday morning, the national carrier’s Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani flagged off flight AI665 — which was carried to runway using Taxibot at terminal 3 of the Delhi airport — to Mumbai.
With Taxibot, it is possible to tow an aircraft from the parking bay to the runway with its engines switched off. It is a pilot controlled semi-robotic towbar-less aircraft tractor, used as an alternate taxiing equipment.
“The use of Taxibot on the Air India aircraft at Indira Gandhi International Airport today morning is the first such usage on any Airbus aircraft worldwide. Really an achievement to be proud of. A giant step forward towards a cleaner environment,” Lohani said.
