Auve Tech has demonstrated its MiCa shuttle operating at Tallinn Airport, in Estonia, without an onboard safety operator, a major milestone in the commercialisation of autonomous mobility.
Held in cooperation with Magnetic MRO, the demonstration showed safe and efficient autonomous transport under remote supervision in a live airport environment.
MiCa is an eight-passenger electric autonomous shuttle developed and manufactured in Estonia for the transport of people and goods in airports, industrial sites and urban environments.
The Level 4 autonomous vehicle uses cameras and LiDAR sensors to perceive its surroundings and can be monitored and supported through a remote operations center.
Auve Tech received authorisation in August 2026 to remove the onboard safety operator from its passenger service at Tallinn Airport. Following this approval, it became the first European company to operate autonomous passenger transport at an airport without an onboard safety operator.
Government, aviation, industry and media representatives experienced a service that is not a closed-course pilot: it supports Magnetic MRO’s daily transport of employees and equipment.
Kaarel Variksaar, CEO of Auve Tech, says: “The real breakthrough for autonomous vehicles will occur when the technology can operate daily in real-world environments without a human on board. We have reached precisely this stage at Tallinn Airport.
“A single remote operator can monitor multiple vehicles, and this is a key step toward making autonomous transport economically competitive and scalable.”
The cooperation between Auve Tech and Magnetic MRO began in 2023 with testing inside the airport area and moved into commercial operations in 2025 after continuous development, validation and experience in complex conditions.
Today, MiCa shuttles connect Magnetic MRO facilities on the airside cover approximately 1,000 kilometres per week with an average autonomy rate of 99.9 percent.
Remote supervision enables one supervisor to oversee several vehicles and intervene only when needed, rather than assigning one driver to every vehicle.
This improves fleet utilisation, reduces operating costs and allows the service to scale without staffing increasing at the same rate, while maintaining safe and efficient operations.
At Magnetic MRO, the autonomous shuttles connect hangars across the airport area, transporting employees and equipment between facilities.
The service has become part of everyday MRO operations, reducing reliance on conventional transport and demonstrating how autonomous mobility can be integrated into a highly regulated aviation environment.
Risto Mäeots, CEO of Magnetic Group, says: “For us, this is not about testing technology anymore. The autonomous vehicles are already part of our daily operations, supporting the continuous movement of people and supplies between our hangars.
“They help us manage the last mile of our internal logistics more efficiently, while allowing our people to focus on the work where their expertise is really needed. Removing the onboard safety operator is an important next step in making the solution even more efficient and scalable.”
Riivo Tuvike, chairman of the management board of Tallinn Airport, says: “Tallinn Airport has always placed great importance on innovation and on creating an environment where new technologies can be tested and developed in real-life conditions.
“Auve Tech began testing autonomous vehicles at Tallinn Airport in 2023, and the airport environment, with its strict safety requirements, rules and procedures, provides an excellent setting for gaining the experience and knowledge needed to introduce autonomous mobility more widely in the future.
“We are particularly pleased that Tallinn Airport has now become the first airport in Europe where an autonomous vehicle has been authorised to operate without an onboard safety operator. This is an important step towards more efficient, sustainable and innovative airport operations.”
Tallinn Airport has provided Auve Tech with a unique real-world environment for the development and deployment of autonomous mobility solutions.
The airport’s openness to innovation has enabled the project to progress from testing to regular commercial operations.
The demonstration is regarded by the airport and company as both a technological and operational milestone. With several years of experience and deployments worldwide, Auve Tech says it continues to develop reliable, safe and scalable autonomous mobility for airports, industrial campuses, logistics hubs and other controlled environments seeking greater efficiency, resilience and sustainability.
This new milestone demonstrates not only the maturity of the technology, but also the viability of autonomous transport as a commercially operating service, adds the company.
