China International Marine Containers (CIMC) has developed an unmanned intelligent boarding bridge, which will become operational at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands by the end of next year.

A programme will need to be installed on the airport’s system to operate the bridge once it is made available.

The passenger boarding bridge automatically connects with aircraft doors upon the press of a button.

This process reduces the docking time to one minute from the current three minutes, raising the airport’s efficiency and reducing operating costs.

“CIMC and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol signed the first order contract for the jet bridge in October last year.”

The moveable gangway also features a data management function that can analyse abnormalities to predict the failure of the jetway in advance. This assists in maintaining and operating the system.

CIMC and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol signed the first order contract for the jet bridge in October last year.

Additionally, airports from Norway, France and the Middle East have shown interest to acquire the unmanned intelligent boarding bridge.

CIMC is a Chinese state-owned joint venture that specialises in shipping containers, road transport and airport equipment manufacturing.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is located 9km south-west of Amsterdam and is said to be the third busiest passenger airport in Europe.