Emirates is taking its robot check-in game to the next level. The airline is developing a new generation of airport robots capable of completing passenger check-in and handling baggage entirely on their own, with a formal launch expected in the first quarter of 2027.
Emirates’ New Robots Will Check You In & Carry Your Bags By 2027
Building On Sara’s Success
Speaking at ForsaTEK 2026, Emirates Group’s annual innovation showcase, Keenan Hamza, the airline’s vice-president of Innovation and New Technologies, said the new robots are the next step up from Sara, the original prototype that let passengers check in using facial recognition and passport scanning. The upgraded version won’t just handle check-in; it’ll take over baggage duties too, physically receiving a traveller’s suitcase, weighing it and attaching the tag automatically, all without a staff member stepping in.
How The Baggage Robot Will Work
According to Hamza as mentioned in Gulf News, the process starts the moment a passenger walks up: the robot recognises their face, matches it to their booking, then takes the bag straight from their hands, weighs it, and prints and attaches the tag on the spot. It’s designed to remove one of the more time-consuming parts of the airport experience, and it’s being developed through a dedicated robotics lab Emirates Group has set up specifically to push automation across its operations.
Automation Goes Well Beyond The Check-In Desk
Robots and check-in kiosks are just one piece of Emirates’ automation push. At the same event, the airline showcased drones used to inspect engine components, something Hamza said makes Emirates the first organisation in the region to conduct such inspections, and revealed that pallet measurement in cargo operations is now fully automated as well.
Artificial intelligence is also set to play a bigger role behind the scenes. Hamza said the goal is to use passenger data to anticipate individual preferences, from meal choices to drink orders, so services feel more personalised without travellers needing to ask directly. Over time, Emirates wants its systems to anticipate what a passenger needs before they say a word, reducing the back-and-forth currently involved in arranging those small touches.
ForsaTEK 2026 itself brought together technology leaders across more than 90 events and 60 projects, spotlighting how ideas that were purely experimental just two years ago are now becoming part of daily operations at Emirates. If this rollout goes to plan, the days of queuing at a check-in counter, or waiting anxiously to see if your bag made it onto the belt, could look very different by early 2027.
Cover Image Courtesy: Emirates/FB
FAQs
What will the new robots do?
They'll handle passenger check-in and baggage, scanning faces, weighing suitcases and attaching tags automatically.
Is this related to Sara, Emirates' existing check-in robot?
Yes, the new robots build directly on Sara's facial recognition and passport-scanning technology.
Is Emirates using automation elsewhere too?
Yes, including drone-based engine inspections and fully automated cargo pallet measurement.
