Flying Pig GSE and HEVO have announced a strategic collaboration to develop wireless charging applications for electric and autonomous ground support equipment, with the goal of improving fleet utilization and simplifying airport charging operations.

The partnership combines HEVO's Rezonant wireless charging hardware and Journey software platform with Flying Pig GSE's aviation industry experience and customer relationships. The companies plan to identify applications where automated charging could reduce equipment downtime and support increasingly automated ground operations.

The technology could allow electric GSE to recharge during normal operating pauses at airport gates, staging areas and loading zones without requiring operators to manually connect charging cables.

By taking advantage of these opportunities throughout the day, certain types of equipment could potentially operate with smaller onboard batteries. According to the companies, this approach could reduce vehicle weight and cost while improving energy efficiency and equipment utilization.

Wireless charging could also help address a challenge associated with autonomous GSE. Although vehicles may eventually operate without drivers, conventional charging still requires someone to connect and disconnect charging equipment.

"Airport electrification cannot stop at replacing the engine. We also need to rethink how energy gets into the vehicle," said Jeremy McCool, founder and CEO of HEVO.

Neil Bennett, managing director of Flying Pig GSE, said the partnership could help manufacturers and operators optimize battery capacity based on equipment duty cycles rather than requiring sufficient battery power for an entire shift.

The companies intend to pursue customer engagements, application development, system integration, demonstrations and pilot projects across the GSE market. Initial efforts will focus on applications where wireless charging could deliver measurable operational or economic benefits to airports, fleet operators and equipment manufacturers.

No specific airport deployments or pilot project dates were announced.