On June 5, 2024, Haneda Airport’s terminal operator Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd., announced it developed a new ramp bus allocation system and put it into service at the airport back in April 2024.
The new system, RBAS (Albus), was developed in cooperation with ANA, ANA Airport Services, which provides ground handling services to ANA at Haneda Airport, and Airport Transport Service, which operates ramp buses at the airport. All the major domestic airlines serving Haneda including JAL, ANA, Skymark Airlines, Air Do, Solaseed Air, and Starflyer participate in the system’s operation.
RBAS is expected to considerably simplify the work of ramp bus dispatchers. While some of its parts have not been developed yet, RBAS is ultimately expected to automate the creation and updating of bus operating schedules and deciding dispatch times, assist dispatchers with assigning buses, and collect operational data.
The system will ultimately be directly connected with airlines’ and the airport operator’s flight information systems, allow airline staff to provide additional data using their tablets, and be able to track the location of ramp buses using GPS.
Through the development of the system, Japan Airport Terminal was also able to standardize dispatch rules and handling of irregular operations, which previously varied depending on the airline.
