JAL trials bipedal robots for baggage and cabin cleaning

Japan Airlines (JAL) kicked off a three year trial of humanoid robots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. The airline partnered with GMO AI & Robotics to deploy two Unitree Robotics units for baggage handling, container transport, and cabin cleaning.

The machines cost about $15,400 each. JAL went with the humanoid form because airports were designed around people, not wheeled machines. Bipedal robots can navigate the existing layout without forcing costly infrastructure changes.

Japan’s shrinking workforce drove the decision

Japan’s working age population is projected to drop 31% between 2023 and 2060. Haneda processes around 85.9 million passengers a year. JAL employs ~4,000 ground handling workers, and the Japanese government wants to hit 60 million inbound tourists annually by 2030 (up from 42.7 million in 2025).

Demand for airport labor keeps climbing. The number of people available to do that work doesn’t.

Humanoid robots are moving into factories and airports fast

BMW ran two Figure AI Figure 02 units at its Spartanburg, South Carolina plant for 11 months.

The robots helped produce over 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles and loaded more than 90,000 sheet metal components across ~1,250 operational hours. BMW then expanded the program to Europe. In February 2026, it announced plans to deploy Hexagon AB’s AEON humanoid at its Leipzig plant for EV battery assembly.

UK based startup Humanoid signed a binding deployment deal with German motion tech firm Schaeffler in May 2026.

The agreement covers a four-digit fleet of wheeled humanoid units across Schaeffler’s global manufacturing sites by 2032. The deal uses a Robot-as-a-Service model that bundles fleet management, maintenance, and 24/7 technical support.

“Together with Schaeffler, one of our key industrial partners, we are taking an important step toward making humanoid robotics part of global manufacturing operations,” Humanoid founder and CEO Artem Sokolov said.

Chinese manufacturer AgiBot scaled from 1,000 humanoid units in 2025 to 10,000 by late March 2026.

Trade wars complicate the robotics buildout

South Korea’s Trade Commission slapped antidumping duties of up to 19.85% on Chinese robots and up to 18.64% on Japanese robots in March 2026.

Local manufacturers like HD Hyundai Robotics complained that Chinese suppliers were selling industrial robots at prices nearly 60% below Korean equivalents, Cryptopolitan reported.

In the United States, robotics executives have pushed Congress to subsidize domestic production and impose tariffs on Chinese industrial robots. Standard Bots CEO Evan Beard told lawmakers last December that American quotes run ten times higher than Chinese suppliers, according to Cryptopolitan’s reporting.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.