Airports across Japan are building an artificial intelligence system with trading house Sumitomo Corp. to automatically detect faults in runways and guidance lights.
Nineteen airports, including Narita and Kansai International, have formed a consortium with Sumitomo Corp. to develop a patrol and inspection system for airport infrastructure, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 3rd. The group plans to pool data from each airport to build an AI platform that improves the accuracy of fault detection.
The consortium was set up as staffing shortages at airports emerged alongside rising visitor numbers. Japan drew a record 43 million foreign visitors last year, but airports are struggling to find enough workers to maintain and inspect their facilities. Many airports are also aging. About 50% of the country's airports were more than 50 years old as of 2024, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The Japanese government has also set a goal of raising annual takeoffs and landings at Narita and Haneda, the two airports serving Tokyo, to 1 million from about 830,000. It is targeting 60 million foreign visitors by 2030.
The airports aim to use the inspection system to cut the time workers spend on tasks by up to 50%. The program will begin with the 19 airports, mostly privately operated or state-managed, before expanding further. Japan has about 100 airports.
Sumitomo Corp. has been running runway inspection trials jointly with some airports. The company also operates in transport infrastructure more broadly, including the use of AI in railway maintenance and inspection. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications supports efforts to address regional economic challenges using AI and communications technology through its regional digital transformation package program, and subsidies from that program have been channeled into the airport project.
The consortium will use cameras mounted on self-driving vehicles to capture high-resolution footage and automatically detect cracks and foreign objects on surfaces. Drones will be used for runways and for some facilities installed at height. The group also plans to consider adopting "physical AI" using robots and similar equipment.
