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Swiss Association for Autonomous Mobility

Zurich Airport’s automated shuttles now operate without a safety driver on board

Since 9 September 2026, the two automated shuttles at Zurich Airport operate at Level 4, with no one on board to drive or supervise them. Supervision has moved to a remote cockpit.

Written by

Raphaël Sauvain

Published on

BlogProject
Unoccupied driver position of a Zurich Airport automated shuttle, with SWISS aircraft on the apron in the background

On 9 September 2026, Flughafen Zürich AG announced that its two automated shuttles now operate with no one on board who drives or supervises the vehicle. Supervision has moved to a remote cockpit. The airport describes this as Level 4 operation. SAAM summarises the announcement below and places it in the context of automated vehicle deployments in Switzerland.

What changed

The project started in March 2025. Until now, a safety driver was on board to take control if needed. According to the airport, the two shuttles covered more than 15,000 kilometres over 18 months under those conditions.

The first Level 4 runs began in early September 2026. They take place without passengers. The airport states that safety remains its priority during this phase.

After the test phase, which the airport expects to last about four weeks, airport employees are expected to ride the shuttles with no safety driver on board. Operations are planned until the end of 2026.

How the service works

  • Vehicles: two shuttles from WeRide, the project’s technology partner.
  • Service: a shuttle for employees, on a defined route within the airport grounds. The route does not cross aircraft taxiways.
  • Supervision: remote operators monitor the vehicles from a remote cockpit and step in when needed.
  • Partners: Swissport and Krummen Kerzers handle monitoring.

The airport reports that former safety drivers have moved into remote supervision roles. One operator can now oversee several vehicles.

Coralie Klaus Boecker, Head of the ZRH Innovation Hub at Flughafen Zürich AG, links the project to the labour shortages airports expect to face. She sees gradual vehicle automation as one way to address them.

Empty safety driver seat and manual controls inside a Zurich Airport automated shuttle
The safety driver seat stays empty during Level 4 operation. Photo: © Flughafen Zürich AG

Where this fits in Switzerland

Removing the safety driver is a step the autonomous mobility sector has worked towards for several years. Swiss projects that came before it include:

  • 2015: Swisscom tests a self-driving car on Swiss public roads.
  • 2016: PostBus launches automated passenger shuttles on public roads in Sion.
  • 2022 to 2026: LOXO runs driverless Level 4 logistics vehicles, first in Ebikon without a driving cockpit and with remote supervision, then in Bern without a safety driver behind the wheel.
  • 2026: Zurich Airport removes the safety driver from its automated shuttle operation.

According to SAAM, 40 automated vehicles have been deployed in Switzerland since 2015, all of them in pilot projects.

What comes next

Once vehicles run without a driver on board, the open questions change. They concern remote supervision, fleet operations, integration into public transport and logistics, and the new jobs and skills that come with them. Moving from pilots with a few vehicles to fleets of tens or hundreds is the next step for the sector.

SAAM, the Swiss Association for Autonomous Mobility, follows these developments and brings together the operators, technology providers, authorities and researchers working on them.

Source: Flughafen Zürich AG, “Flughafen Zürich: Automatisierte Shuttlebusse fahren neu ohne Sicherheitsperson an Bord”, newsroom, 9 September 2026. All photos: © Flughafen Zürich AG.

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