Air India becomes first airline globally to use Taxibot on Airbus flight

New Delhi: Air India scripted history on Tuesday by becoming the first airline in the world to use a TaxiBot on an Airbus A320 aircraft operating a commercial flight with passengers onboard.

A TaxiBot (Taxiing Robot), is a pilot-controlled semi-robotic towbar-less aircraft tractor used as alternate taxiing equipment.

Air India Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Ashwani Lohani flagged off AI665 from Delhi to Mumbai at Terminal 3 on Tuesday.

Using this device, it is possible to tow the aircraft from parking bays to the runway with their engines switched off. These TaxiBots will be used for departing flights only.

The step is taken by the airline to curb carbon emission, which will result in improving air quality and accelerate a greener aviation eco-system.

Further, usage of TaxiBots will significantly bring down the consumption of fuel by as much as 85 per cent used during taxiing of aircraft. The TaxiBots would also help in decongesting boarding gates and apron area by providing efficient pushbacks.