Abstract: The present invention relates to airport towing vehicles capable of handling large transport aircrafts. The vehicle has a movable chassis on which a platform for receiving the nose wheel unit of an aircraft is mounted. An access ramp, pivotally connected to an edge of the platform is engaged under the nose wheel unit of the aircraft to bring the nose wheel unit upwards onto the platform and a lifting device is supplied at controlled pressure to exert a lifting force on the access ramp which is a function of the load of the nose wheel unit taken over by the access ramp. Rollers on the upper surface of the access ramp reduce frictional resistance between the tires of the nose wheel unit and the upper surface of the access ramp.