A fleet of Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche models will begin testing an autonomous parking system at Hamburg Airport.

Users can pre-book a space at the terminal and leave their car at the entrance on arrival.

The car will autonomously find a space and park itself.

 The project is part of the mobility partnership with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg that aims to develop Hamburg as a model city for urban mobility. The target is for the first customers to be able to test the new autonomous parking service at the beginning of the next decade. And then there will be an end to the search for parking spaces and passengers can head straight to the terminal.

Johann Jungwirth, chief digital officer of the Volkswagen Group, said: “With new mobility solutions we want to give people more time and quality of life by reducing the time spent and stress in road traffic. Our vision is mobility that is available to everyone, everywhere and at all times at the press of a button – and autonomous vehicles play a decisive role here. People currently spend around 30% of their driving time in urban areas looking for a parking space. Autonomous parking like we are testing here at Hamburg Airport is an important step on the way to autonomous driving – as an integrated full-service concept via an app. We are putting a consistent focus on people and their needs.”

The system is made possible by simple pictorial markers in the car park, which the vehicle sensors use for orientation.

While the vehicle owner is away, parcels ordered are delivered to the vehicle boot and the dry cleaning service hangs freshly laundered clothes straight in the vehicle. Upon return, the driver simply sends a brief message via the app and a short time later the vehicle is ready to drive home at the exit of the car park. And the billing is also fast and without queuing at the parking machine – needless to say, via the app.

Hamburg Airport is the first airport in Germany to commit itself to autonomous parking solutions and is providing parking lanes in the multi-storey car park directly opposite Terminal 2 for the test phase.

There is also a further advantage for the parking situation at the airport: autonomously parking cars need much less space for parking as drivers do not have to get in or out. In future, more parking spaces could therefore be made available to passengers in the direct vicinity of the airport.

Author: Fleet News