Cleaning a 12,000 m² Airport Concourse in a 4-Hour Overnight Window
A composite case study: sizing a PUDU MT1 Max fleet to clear a regional terminal concourse between the last arrival and the first departure — and a 16-month payback.
By WhichBot Team
Illustrative scenario.This case study is a composite built from real industry benchmarks and our Fleet & ROI engine, not a specific named customer. Figures are representative, not a guarantee.
An airport terminal has the hardest cleaning constraint in the business: a large open floor and almost no time. Between the last arrival and the first departure sits a ~4-hour window, and a 12,000 m² regional concourse has to be clear of dust and debris by the time the first passengers walk in. We sized the fleet through the Fleet & ROI Planner — and the answer was about throughput, not floor area.
The brief
The concourse never really closes — it just goes quiet. Cleaning had to finish before the first check-in staff arrived, cover a floor that mixes polished stone and vinyl, and stay reliably clear of overnight retail restock and maintenance crews.
- ~12,000 m² of cleanable hard floor across check-in, gates and transit corridors
- A hard 4-hour window, non-negotiable — a delayed finish is a delayed opening
- Long sight-lines (great for autonomy) but constant furniture and stanchion changes
- Must dock and empty the debris hopper without eating the window
The deciding number: throughput vs. window
Sizing must use real coverage, not the spec sheet. PUDU publishes a fleet-measured figure for the MT1 Max of ~1,270 m²/h (against a ~2,200 m²/h cover-mode spec) — so three units deliver ~3,800 m²/h effective and clear the concourse well inside four hours:
The overnight window is 4 hours. Two units miss it once you add docking and hopper emptying; three clear it with margin — so three is the right fleet, not the cheapest.
Where the fleet cleaned mattered as much as how fast. Mapping the concourse by zone showed the transit corridors — always the last to get a manual pass — were where audits slipped:
Docks placed at zone centroids — not in one back corner — cut dead travel time and kept every zone inside the window.
The shortlist
Prices are indicative Australian retail, ex-GST. The PUDU MT1 Max won on throughput-per-dollar; the Gausium Scrubber 75 is a capable ride-on but costs several times more per unit.
| Model | Real coverage | Indicative price | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| PUDU MT1 Max | ~1,270 m²/h | ~A$39,200 | Large concourse, best value |
| Gausium Scrubber 75 | ~700–1,400 m²/h | ~A$131,000 | Big ride-on, premium price |
| PUDU CC1 | ~490 m²/h | ~A$30,100 | Too small — needs too many units |
The money
Three MT1 Max units plus mapping came to ~A$125,000 upfront, displacing the bulk of two overnight cleaning roles for a net ~A$8,000/month:
Break-even at ~15.6 months on a $125,000 upfront outlay saving $8,000/month.
The payback model counts labour. It doesn't count the cost of a late opening — which is the number an airport actually loses sleep over, and the reason a fleet that reliably beats the window is worth more than the one that barely fits.
Would it work for your terminal?
- Size your own fleet against your window with the Fleet & ROI Planner.
- Or tell us about your facility for a vendor-neutral shortlist.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you clean an airport terminal overnight?
- You size a fleet to the window, not the floor. In this composite a 12,000 m² regional concourse had a ~4-hour gap between the last arrival and the first departure; three PUDU MT1 Max units cleared it with time to spare, running fixed routes zone by zone.
- How many autonomous sweepers does a terminal concourse need?
- Enough combined throughput to beat the window. At ~1,270 m²/h fleet-measured each, three PUDU MT1 Max units clear about 12,000 m² inside the 4-hour overnight window with margin for docking and hopper emptying.
- What is the payback on cleaning robots for an airport?
- About 16 months in this scenario: ~A$125,000 upfront for a three-unit fleet plus mapping, against ~A$8,000 a month in displaced overnight labour.
- Why not use a smaller fleet to save money?
- A fleet that misses the window leaves dirty zones and forces manual top-up labour, which erases the saving. The cheapest fleet that reliably beats the window — here three units — has the best payback, not the fewest machines.
Put these numbers to work
See which robot fits your facility and what it would save you.
Run the Fleet & ROI Planner