All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced it will begin rolling out remote passenger support across multiple regional airports in Japan starting August 21, 2026, in partnership with avatarin, a Tokyo-based AI and robotics startup.
The service will use robots called "newme" operated centrally from Kansai International Airport (KIX) , making ANA the first Japanese airline to launch this kind of inter-airport remote support system.
ANA said the approach builds on extensive testing conducted at Haneda Airport (HND) , where researchers analyzed more than 25,000 customer interactions and found that 98.4% of passenger questions could be resolved remotely with the same quality as in-person service.
The airline said it will evaluate the program's effect on customer satisfaction and operational performance before deciding whether to expand the service to additional airports.
