Robots to work in Japan airport as part of experiment

Japan Airlines (JAL) is introducing robots as baggage handlers at an airport in the capital city of Tokyo.

Staff at Haneda airport - which receives a staggering 60 million travellers a year - will be joined by the robots from the beginning of May.

There will be used for a trial period, which ends in 2028.

Bosses at the company say they could be used as part of the permanent workforce if it goes well.

The robots are made by a Chinese company.

They stand at 130cm tall, and can work for two to three hours non-stop. They don't need tea breaks, but will need to be charged throughout the day.

Japan Airlines are planning to use them to perform other tasks, such as cleaning aircraft cabins.

As companies become more and more interested in using robots for labour, there's a concern they will replace humans.

Yoshiteru Suzuki, a manager at JAL, said replacing physically demanding tasks with robots "is likely to inevitably reduce workers' burden, providing significant benefits to employees".

But he added there will be some tasks, including safety management that will only be carried out by humans, he added.

Using robots in a variety of creative ways has really taken off recently.

An AI-powered robot named Ace beat some elite players at table tennis in Tokyo in April, and 21 humanlike robots competed in the Beijing half marathon a few weeks a go.