APAI Airport Physical AI Readiness Index
Framework v1.0 · 6 domains · 30 criteria

Is your airport ready to host machines that move?

Physical AI — autonomous vehicles on the apron, robots in the terminal, robotic handling in the baggage hall, automated inspection on the airfield — is arriving at airports now. Changi Airport put driverless baggage tractors into live airside service in January 2026, after nearly a year of trials and more than 5,000 test trips, with 24 vehicles planned by 2027. That is an operation, not a demonstration. The question for most airports is no longer whether, but whether the ground is prepared for it when it comes.

The framework's premise: readiness for physical AI is not a technology shopping list. It is a property of the host environment — the surfaces, the positioning, the data, the safety case, and the workforce agreement that let an autonomous machine operate safely in a live aerodrome. Airports fail at physical AI in the enabling layers, not in the robots.

Where the machines land

Four operational domains — 60% of the index

  1. A Airside & ramp autonomy
  2. B Terminal & passenger autonomy
  3. C Baggage, cargo & logistics automation
  4. D Infrastructure, maintenance & airfield integrity

What lets them land

Two enabling domains — 40% of the index

  1. E Data, connectivity & digital backbone
  2. F Governance, workforce & safety assurance

Weighted heavily on purpose. These two domains decide whether anything in the first column ever leaves pilot stage.

30 diagnostic criteria 5-level maturity scale 8–10 min to complete No commercial data required

Answer as your airport is today, not as it is planned to be. The index is only useful if it is honest. Nothing is submitted until you choose to unlock the full report.