Abstract: A towing vehicle for maneuvering airplanes without draw tongue, has a chassis (5), which exhibits a fork-shaped receiver space between the wheels of one wheel axle, in which a gripping and retracting device (28, 68) is attached that can be retracted and extended and works together with a lifting device, by means of which the nose wheel (24) of the airplane can be grasped and pulled onto a scoop (14) that can be raised and lowered relative to the chassis. In it, only a single scoop (14) is present to support the nose wheel (24) in the area of the nose wheel load line of application to prevent clamping and deformation forces on the nose wheel (24) during the retraction procedure or during raising. The scoop can be tipped around a horizontal axle attached to the chassis and its tipped position relative to the chassis can be adjusted by control.