Number of robotic parking spaces at Lyon Airport to increase to 2,000

After a successful trial involving 500 spaces, in place for over a year now, the outdoor robotic parking service developed by Stanley Robotics and VINCI Airports at Lyon Airport has entered a new deployment phase.

Under the terms of an agreement that has just been signed by the two partners, this highly innovative car park is set to be expanded to 2,000 spaces in summer 2020. This world first contributes to improving the quality of service for passengers, and is in perfect synergy with the sustainable development targets set by the airport.

A genuine world first in terms of innovation, deployment of the first outdoor car park entirely managed by robots, developed by Stanley Robotics and VINCI Airports, continues at Lyon Airport - the number of spots available is set to increase from 500 to 2,000. The service will be run by seven autonomous robots working simultaneously, while 28 cabins will be available for dropping off and picking up vehicles.

The partnership between Stanley Robotics and VINCI Airports, which began in 2017, ultimately aims to offer over 6,000 parking spaces.

With this robotic valet system, passengers no longer waste time looking for a free space or trying to locate their vehicle. After booking their parking space in just a few clicks on the Lyon Airport website, passengers drop off their vehicle in dedicated cabins and make their way to the terminals using the shuttle bus located just a few steps away. The robot takes care of the car, parking it in the secure car park. When they return, passengers pick up their vehicle, which is waiting for them in one of the cabins.

The service offers numerous advantages: security, simplicity and time savings. With this new technology, parking becomes a no-fuss experience that takes only a few minutes of passengers’ time, leaving them free to travel in a relaxed state of mind! The system’s benefits go far beyond those of a simple valet service - it constitutes a new way of arranging vehicles in a car park and makes for a smoother overall passenger experience, while making excellent use of space since cars can be parked in dense blocks.

The robot valet service developed with Stanley Robotics at Lyon Airport is perfectly in line with VINCI Airports’ sustainable development approach.

It reduces land use by making it possible in the future to create 50% more spaces within the same surface area, since vehicles can be packed in very closely, several layers deep. The surrounding soil structure is therefore preserved.

It limits CO2 emissions by eliminating the need for passengers to drive around the car park looking for a free space. The robots used are powered by an electric motor that does not emit any CO2. For a one-year period and for 2,000 parking spaces, it is estimated that 100 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided.

Nicolas Notebaert, Chief Executive Officer of VINCI Concessions and Chairman of VINCI Airports, explained: “As the world’s leading private operator, we pursue an ambitious industrial strategy to benefit passengers, at all of our 46 airports around the world. This strategy is based on two pillars: customer experience and innovation. Lyon Airport rolls out this strategy in an exemplary fashion, which is why it has become one of VINCI Airports’ three centres of excellence for innovation in the field of customer experience. Among other advantages, this role means we can extend the innovations tested in Lyon to other airports in the VINCI Airports network.

Tanguy Bertolus, CEO - Lyon Airports, summed up his vision with these words: “The robot valet service provided by Stanley Robotics and developed in Lyon meets the strategic objectives of Lyon Airport, namely, to enhance customer experience and reduce the environmental impact of the airport’s activities. This project is one of the factors behind the outstanding results obtained in these two areas by Lyon Airport, which in 2019 was named Europe’s best airport in the 10-25 million passenger category by Airports Council International and certified carbon neutral for its activities.”

Clément Boussard, CEO of Stanley Robotics, added: “This agreement represents a major development stage for our benchmark project on the Lyon Airport site, and for our service. The opening of 2,000 spaces illustrates how far we have come in terms of maturity, with a product that is increasingly professional. We are proud to have convinced an industrial player with such high standards as VINCI Airports to continue this development journey with us. It represents a significant leap forward in the history of our young company, and boosts our confidence in our plan to conquer the airport market and get other projects up and running right now.”