AN Uber-style service could soon be operating for staff across Gatwick Airport.

Gatwick’s 300 airside vehicles are stationary 90 per cent of the time as staff attend to aircraft and passengers.

But a trial of electric-powered autonomous vehicles will soon see workers shuttled between popular locations on the airfield when it starts later this summer.

The trial is thought to be the first of its kind for any airport in the world.

If successful and scaled up, it could lead to airfield transport needs being met from a much smaller pool of autonomous vehicles.

Cathal Corcoran, chief information officer at Gatwick Airport, said: “If this trial proves successful, then in the future we could have an Uber-like service operating across the airfield which staff can hail as and when they need to travel.

“This trial is just the start and much more research will be needed, but ultimately this could be the start of widespread use of autonomous vehicles on airfields across the world.

“The new technology is a more efficient way to manage vehicles and could lead to a reduction in the number of vehicles required, their associated costs and harmful emissions.”

If the technology is proved, this project may be the precursor to a wide range of other autonomous vehicles being used on airport, including aircraft push back tugs, passenger load bridges, baggage tugs and transportation buses.

No passengers or aircraft will be involved in this trial which will be limited to airside roads between the airport’s north and south terminals.

The trial will be run in partnership with Oxbotica, a company that develops software that enables vehicles to run autonomously without reliance on GPS or any other technology outside the vehicle

Dr Graeme Smith, chief executive of Oxbotica, said: “Airports offer an incredibly interesting domain for our autonomous driving software. There is a huge diversity of vehicles, each with a very specific mission.

“The challenge of choreographing all of the activity around an individual plane, or in support of airport operations is immense and we look forward to working closely with Gatwick on this initial pilot that will demonstrate our self-driving technology carrying staff around the airfield.”

The Department of Transport will look at the data.