JAL Tests Humanoid Baggage Handlers at Haneda as Japan Faces Worker Shortages

Robots Join the Ground Crew at Haneda

Japan Airlines is beginning a two year trial of humanoid robots at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in May 2026, testing whether machines standing 130 centimeters tall can help move baggage and cargo while easing the physical burden on ground crews. The experiment comes as Japan faces a shrinking workforce and record international tourism.

JAL and GMO AI & Robotics Trading announced the partnership on April 27. The project, scheduled to run through 2028, is described as the first demonstration experiment of humanoid robots in ground handling at a Japanese airport. Haneda serves the Greater Tokyo Area and handles more than 60 million passengers annually.

At a media demonstration during the week of May 8, a robot made by Unitree Robotics, based in Hangzhou, China, carefully pushed cargo containers toward a conveyor belt beside a parked JAL aircraft. After completing the movement, it turned and waved at nearby human colleagues.

The machine is roughly four feet three inches tall. It works for two to three hours before needing a charging break, with designated areas planned for recharging. For now, the robots operate under remote human control, following movements directed by operators rather than making their own decisions.

JAL intends to start with physically demanding work involving luggage and cargo containers on the tarmac, the working area around aircraft. Ground crews carry out these jobs in restricted spaces and under tight time limits. The trial will examine whether a machine shaped to move like a person can fit into those existing routines while human staff retain responsibility for safety.

How the Trial Will Move Toward Live Operations

JAL and GMO have set out a phased experiment rather than an immediate move to routine robot operations. The first stage will examine airport work and identify specific areas where humanoid machines can operate safely alongside employees.

Teams will assess the space available around aircraft, the timing of ground handling tasks and the communication needed between people and robots. Those details matter because baggage and cargo movements must fit into the wider sequence of preparing an aircraft for its next flight.

The partners will then carry out repeated operational checks in simulated airport environments. They want to establish what they call a "sustainable operating model," meaning a way of working in which robots can regularly support human crews. Only after those checks will the machines move into live tarmac operations to handle the physical movement of luggage and cargo containers.

The timetable brings together developments in robotics, government policy and airport operations:

• March 2026: Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry published guidelines promoting robotics and artificial intelligence in response to a declining workforce. Unitree's application for an initial public offering was also approved that month.
• April 27, 2026: JAL and GMO AI & Robotics Trading announced their airport partnership.
• May 2026: The two year humanoid robot trial begins at Haneda.
• Through 2028: The partners plan to assess work areas, conduct simulated operational checks and move toward live ground handling.

No specific date has been given for the move from simulated testing to live operations. The progression depends on the assessment and verification stages, which are intended to protect airport workflows and aviation safety standards.

Why Use a Robot Shaped Like a Person?

Humanoid robots offer a particular advantage at Haneda: their range of movement is comparable to that of people, allowing them to work in areas already designed for human staff. The partners see that adaptability as a way to introduce automation without expensive changes to airport infrastructure.

Fixed conveyor systems and machines built for a single purpose can automate particular jobs, but they have struggled to fit into the complex routines of modern airport ground operations. A humanoid machine is intended to move within those existing spaces and perform physical tasks using a more flexible range of motion.

Tomohiro Uchida, president of GMO AI and Robotics, described the gap between the automated systems passengers see and the manual work that continues behind the scenes:

While airports appear highly automated and standardised, their back-end operations still rely heavily on human labour and face serious labor shortages.

Haneda's trial focuses on that less visible part of the airport. Moving containers, loading and unloading cargo, and shifting equipment across the tarmac demand strength and endurance. These jobs also follow relatively predictable patterns, making them suitable starting points for testing robot assistance.

A Shrinking Workforce Meets Record Tourism

Japan's working age population is projected to fall by 31% between 2023 and 2060, according to forecasts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Decades of low birth rates and an aging population mean that retirees increasingly outnumber new workers entering the employment market.

The forecast represents a loss of almost one third of the working age population over that period. For industries that still depend heavily on physical labor, including airport ground handling, a smaller pool of workers creates pressure to find other ways to complete essential tasks.

Japan is facing that pressure while welcoming unprecedented numbers of international visitors. More than seven million visitors arrived in the first two months of 2026, following a record 42.7 million arrivals in 2025.

Haneda's annual traffic of more than 60 million passengers places substantial demands on the crews responsible for luggage and cargo. Those employees must keep goods moving while meeting strict safety requirements and tight turnaround times, the period available to prepare an aircraft between flights.

Industry analysts suggest Japan may need more than 6.5 million foreign workers by 2040 to meet its economic growth targets. Political resistance to increased immigration has encouraged policymakers to explore technology as another response to labor shortages.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry addressed that challenge in official guidelines published in March 2026. The guidelines promoted robotics and artificial intelligence as solutions to "decreasing labor caused by a declining birthrate and aging population."

Marc Einstein, research director at Counter Research, expects humanoid robots to take increasingly prominent roles in Japanese workplaces given the current political climate surrounding immigration. At Haneda, that prospect is being tested against the practical requirements of moving baggage and cargo safely.

What Physical AI Means at an Airport

Barclays analysts describe the combination of artificial intelligence and machines that act in the real world as "physical AI." Unlike AI that operates only through software, physical AI connects computational intelligence with equipment capable of carrying out tasks such as factory assembly or airport logistics.

Recent improvements in robot joint mechanics and AI reasoning have expanded the tasks humanoid machines can attempt. Joint mechanics determine how their bodies move, while reasoning capabilities help AI systems work through the steps involved in a task. Together, these advances have made activities possible that were beyond humanoid robots only a few years ago.

Barclays estimates that the physical AI market, currently valued at $2 billion to $3 billion, could reach $1.4 trillion by 2035. Its forecast covers adoption across industries ranging from manufacturing to healthcare, where machines capable of working in human environments could take on physical duties.

GMO Internet Group, the parent company of the robotics venture, has designated 2026 as the "First Year of Humanoids." The designation signals its intention to accelerate the use of these machines across multiple sectors.

Aviation offers a demanding setting for that ambition. Airport work combines restricted spaces, precise movements and changing operational needs. The Haneda project will test whether improvements in robotics can translate into reliable support for crews performing everyday ground handling jobs.

Charging Breaks and Remote Operators

The Haneda machines currently work for only two to three hours before requiring a recharge. Charging breaks therefore form part of the proposed work routine, with specially designated areas where the robots can replenish their batteries.

Remote human operators also remain part of the process. The robots mimic movements directed by those operators rather than acting independently. Their work at this stage combines a machine's physical movement with a person's control.

JAL and GMO must account for both features as they develop their operating model. A robot's movement has to fit the task and the space around an aircraft, while its available working time has to fit the ground crew's schedule. The planned assessment of timing and communication will examine how these elements work together.

The demonstration showed a robot moving cargo containers toward a conveyor beside an aircraft. The wider trial is designed to test that kind of physical assistance repeatedly and in progressively more realistic conditions, building toward use during live airport operations.

People Keep Responsibility for Safety

Yoshiteru Suzuki, president of JAL Ground Service, has set out the intended division of work between people and machines. Robots would take on physically strenuous duties, while human workers would continue to handle safety management and complex decisions.

Suzuki described the expected benefit for staff:

Using robots for more physically demanding tasks will provide significant benefits to employees.

Suzuki also said that certain responsibilities can only be handled by humans, particularly safety management and complex decision making. The trial's purpose is to support employees and reduce strain and fatigue, with human judgment remaining central to operations.

Aviation's commitment to safety protocols has helped make commercial air travel one of the safest forms of transportation. At Haneda, the phased testing process is intended to preserve those standards while introducing a new form of assistance around aircraft.

The initial work will concentrate on loading and unloading cargo containers, moving luggage and shifting equipment across the tarmac. JAL and GMO also envisage possible later duties involving aircraft cabin cleaning and the operation of ground support equipment. Those additional tasks would extend the effort to reduce the physical burden on employees.

Chinese Robot Makers Seek Room to Grow

Unitree's participation places a Chinese robotics manufacturer at the center of Japan's airport experiment. The Hangzhou company supplied the robot shown moving containers during the demonstration, while the broader trial will test robots manufactured in China.

Unitree, Agibot, also known as Zhiyuan Robotics, and Galbot are among the Chinese companies racing to develop affordable humanoid robots. Several firms are planning initial public offerings to raise money for expansion. An initial public offering allows a company to sell shares to public investors.

Unitree's IPO application was approved in March 2026, the first such approval for a humanoid robotics company in China. That development reflects investor confidence in the sector's growth potential despite the limitations still evident in current machines.

Haneda provides a practical test of that potential. Manufacturers are developing robots that can work in places designed for people, and the airport experiment will examine how one such machine performs within the physical and operational demands of aviation.

What Success Could Mean for Other Airports

Airports around the world are already introducing automation, including biometric boarding gates and autonomous shuttle vehicles. Several Japanese airports use robots for security patrols and retail assistance. Humanoid machines carrying out strenuous ground handling duties would take automation into a different part of airport work.

JAL and GMO see the ability to use existing layouts as a central advantage. A machine that can move through spaces built for people may be easier to integrate than specialized equipment requiring dedicated facilities. The Haneda experiment will test that proposition alongside safety, working time and coordination with staff.

A successful trial could encourage similar systems at other airports in Japan and internationally. The immediate objective, however, is to establish a workable routine at Haneda through assessment, simulated checks and live operational testing.

Counterpoint Research estimates that deployment of capable humanoid robots on a large scale remains about five years away. That places the Haneda trial at an early stage of development, offering a look at technology expected to become more common by the early 2030s.

For JAL's ground crews, the practical goal is closer at hand: reducing the effort involved in moving baggage, containers and equipment while retaining human control over safety and difficult decisions. The experiment through 2028 will examine whether humanoid robots can provide that assistance within the demands of a busy airport.

The Essentials

• JAL and GMO AI & Robotics Trading announced the partnership on April 27, with a two year trial beginning at Haneda in May 2026 and running through 2028.
• A Unitree robot demonstrated at the airport stands 130 centimeters tall and moved cargo containers toward a conveyor beside a JAL aircraft.
• The robots currently operate under remote human control and require charging after two to three hours of work.
• Testing will progress from assessing airport work areas to simulated checks and then live ground handling.
• Japan faces a projected 31% decline in its working age population between 2023 and 2060, alongside record international tourism.
• Human workers will retain responsibility for safety management and complex decisions. Possible later robot duties include cabin cleaning and operating ground support equipment.