Deployment list and figures per WHILL's 29 Sep 2026 announcement (manufacturer statements, incl. zero injury claims, are attributed as such). Request process per airport reporting checked 2026-10-04. Availability varies by airport, airline, and date — confirm with your carrier before travelling.
Where you can find them today
The dominant player in this space is WHILL, which announced on 29 September 2026 that its autonomous service has delivered more than one million rides. According to the company, the service now runs at 28 locations across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, supported by a fleet of more than 200 autonomous devices. WHILL says it launched the industry's first commercial deployment back in 2020, its devices are CE certified, and it reports zero injury claims across the one million-plus rides — treat that last figure as the manufacturer's own statement, not an independent audit.
Airports publicly confirmed as running or testing WHILL autonomous mobility chairs include: London Heathrow, Paris-Orly, Copenhagen, Munich, Barcelona, Tokyo Haneda, San José Mineta (SJC) in the US, and Singapore Changi — where up to 18 chairs make it WHILL's largest airport rollout to date.
Two caveats before you get excited. First, most of these are still pilots or limited rotations: availability is not guaranteed for every trip, and at airports like SJC, service dates and hours shift with operational needs. Second, the landscape is still expanding, so the accurate answer for any specific airport on any specific date is the one your airline gives you — not a list on the internet. Ask the question every time you fly.
How to request one: the only reliable path
This is the part people get wrong, so be precise. Autonomous wheelchairs are not kiosks you walk up to and hop into. The request path is:
1. When you book your flight — or at least 48 hours before departure — request mobility assistance through your airline's special assistance channel, the same channel you would use for any wheelchair service. 2. Ask specifically: does this airport offer an autonomous wheelchair option, and can it be noted on my assistance request? If the agent does not know the term, try "self-driving wheelchair" or "autonomous mobility chair" — WHILL is the main operator. 3. Confirm the details your airline has on file for this specific flight: which terminal, where the assistance handover happens, and whether the autonomous service is actually scheduled to run that day. Do not assume a chair will be there just because the airport is on a deployment list. 4. On travel day, check again with airport staff if you are unsure. Some airports run the service on limited rotations, so same-day confirmation matters.
Expect the staff to assess your needs first, the same way they do for conventional wheelchair assistance — they may ask whether you can walk short distances to match the right level of support. And be realistic about outcomes: at Changi, for example, the autonomous fleet currently supports roughly 10 percent of daily mobility assistance demand, which means most assisted journeys there still involve staff or manual chairs. A polite, specific request through the airline is the best strategy you have, but it is not a reservation with a guaranteed chair.
What the ride is like — and its limits
If you do get one, here is what happens, using the Changi deployment as the worked example since it is the largest and best documented. Airport staff remotely dispatch the chair to your arrival gate based on incoming flight schedules. The chair greets you at the gate, takes you autonomously to the special service lounge for passengers with reduced mobility, and for connecting passengers it is redeployed onward to the next boarding gate. Every journey follows predefined routes inside the terminal and is monitored by a ground handling supervisor at a control centre.
The chair itself is built for the airport environment rather than the open road: sensors detect obstacles and pedestrian traffic, omni-directional wheels handle tight turns, movement only starts once your seatbelt is fastened, and there is an emergency stop button, an assistance call function, and a rear basket for cabin-sized luggage. The experience WHILL and airport operators pitch is independence — no waiting for an attendant to become free before you can move.
Honest limits: these chairs only run inside their programmed terminal routes, not across the whole airport; the fleet size at any airport is small relative to total demand; and the safety record cited is the manufacturer's own claim. If you have complex needs, travelling with medical equipment, or simply prefer a human attendant, the conventional staff-assisted service remains the default and is not going away. Either way, the same rule from every official source applies: processes differ by airport and airline, so confirm with your carrier before you travel.
