Autonomous wheelchairs available at Changi Airport for transfer passengers with walking difficulties

SINGAPORE – Travellers who cannot walk long distances or climb stairs when making flight transfers at Changi Airport can now get around the terminals using autonomous wheelchairs that no one needs to push.

The wheelchairs are an option for those travelling on airlines like Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Air India that operate from Terminals 2 and 3 and which use SATS baggage handling services.

Demand for autonomous wheelchairs – now rolled out after trials from March 2025 to June 2026 – is up by about 20 per cent from 2023 to 2025, said Changi Airport Group (CAG) at a demonstration for reporters on Aug 4.

In the first phase, up to 18 autonomous wheelchairs – nine in Terminal 2 and another nine in Terminal 3 – will be rolled out in stages across the transit areas, mainly for transfer passengers with connecting times of more than 1½ hours between flights.

An average of four in five mobility assistance requests for travellers – out of about 2,300 requests each day – come from transfer passengers, said CAG.

Passengers with mobility issues need to ask for assistance when they book their air tickets, and they will take an autonomous wheelchair, a manual wheelchair, a buggy that can seat five or a caddy that fits three.

The autonomous wheelchairs can be used only by passengers who are able to walk short distances by themselves but require mobility assistance over longer distances, said CAG and SATS at a press briefing.

Service staff from SATS will identify in advance passengers who are suitable to use these wheelchairs, based on information provided by the airline – including the passenger’s profile and travel itinerary.

Equipped with safety features, the autonomous wheelchairs can move only when the seatbelt is securely fastened. Passengers can also activate an emergency stop button and call the control centre if needed.

These devices are programmed to move along set routes to any departure gate in Terminals 2 and 3 and are fitted with sensors that detect obstacles and pedestrians, allowing the wheelchairs to navigate around them. The wheelchair will emit a soft musical hum as it moves around the terminal, to alert other travellers to its presence.

Passengers can also store up to 10kg of cabin luggage in a compartment located at the back of the wheelchair.

A ride on the wheelchair from the farthest end of Terminal 3 to the shopping area takes 15 to 20 minutes, with the device moving at a comfortable walking speed of 3.5kmh, allowing the passenger’s friends and family members to walk with them. Each wheelchair journey will be monitored by a SATS ground handling supervisor at a control centre.

More than 13,000 passengers participated in the trials that lasted over a year, CAG and SATS said in a joint statement.

Higher demand is expected for such mobility assistance services in future, given the airport’s growing passenger volumes from the eventual addition of Terminal 5.

Once completed in the mid-2030s, the new terminal and the wider Changi East development will nearly double the size of the airport. T5 will increase Changi Airport’s annual passenger capacity by more than 55 per cent, from 90 million to 140 million.

Damon Wong, senior vice-president of airport operations planning at CAG, said the deployment of autonomous wheelchairs is among a series of initiatives the airport will roll out to improve the travel readiness of passengers with mobility needs.

He added that the addition of these wheelchairs reflects that CAG is investing further in the needs of passengers and giving them the ability to travel around seamlessly within the airport.

Edwin Tan, SATS vice-president of terminal services and subsidiary Asia-Pacific Star, said it is a “new benchmark” for accessible, seamless and future-ready ground services.