Mobile Telescopic Bridge (MTB)

The DABICO FMT Mobile Telescopic Bridge (MTB) is a self-propelled, apron-drive passenger boarding bridge that connects a terminal gate to an aircraft door without fixed ground infrastructure. The unit drives on its own bogie system, extends three telescoping tunnel sections, and raises or lowers its cab hydraulically to match the sill height of any door on any commercial narrowbody or widebody in service.

In operations, the MTB covers the full commercial fleet spectrum: ICAO Category C through F aircraft, from single-aisle narrowbodies up to the Airbus A380 main deck — and, with the appropriate structural configuration, the A380 upper deck. It is the workhorse configuration at high-throughput gates where multiple aircraft types rotate through the same stand.

Procurement engineers select the MTB when a stand must handle mixed fleet assignments, when the airport has invested in an APIS/A-VDGS docking guidance system (enabling one-button semi-automatic docking), or when the operator wants a single bridge type they can standardise across a hub. The hydraulic lift system is the key reliability differentiator: unlike scissor or rack-and-pinion designs, hydraulics maintain lifting force across the full range of ambient temperatures found in both Nordic winters and Gulf-summer aprons. An optional FMT Safety Floor uses spring-loaded contact plates to prevent fuselage skin damage during final approach.

For GCC airports operating mixed A320/B737/B777/B787 fleets with high daily aircraft rotations, the MTB's single-platform versatility and semi-automatic docking reduce per-turn bridge operating time and crew dependency.