Operating the bridge to an airplane takes real skill

Passenger-boarding bridge operators at Qingdao airport in Shandong province have been improving their capabilities and efficiency through training and competitions. A video shows how an operator manipulates the equipment in a training session.

Passenger bridges — essentially tunnels on wheels to allow passenger to board an aircraft from the terminal building — provide easy access. But it's not an easy job to manipulate the bridges safely and fast. Operators must be cautious.

After strict training, the average docking time of the airport's team of boarding-bridge operators was reduced from 120 seconds to 70 seconds.

Currently, there are 97 boarding bridges at the airport. As of the end of November, the team had made 78,455 dockings without error, according to Qingdao International Airport Group.