BA to try robot baggage handlers at Heathrow

In a move that it says will help avoid baggage tie-ups at Heathrow, British Airways is planning to try out driverless baggage tugs to deliver containers of suitcases to planeside, and in some cases unload them with robot arms.

The machines, from a company called Aurrigo, cost well over £100,000 each, and have previously been tried at Singapore's Changi Airport. Last year, a combination of baggage-handler strikes and system failures left thousand of passengers waiting for baggage or forced to fly on without it.

BA says the machines could cut the amount of labor required by as much as 90%, but is apparently unwilling to admit that's one of their goals; a company official told The Telegraph (UK) that “IAG is exploring innovative ways to help its airlines run their operations as smoothly and punctually as possible. We are working with Aurrigo to trial the use of autonomous baggage trollies, to help support the work of the fantastic baggage teams at our group airlines and our ground handling partners.”