There is a growing number of applications in which the traditional sewing process is replaced by welding, usually ultrasonic welding. The joining of upholstery is an example for the successful integration of a textile welding process into a pro duction process of the automotive industry. In general, welding is possible, if the fabrics are made of thermoplastic materials, which is usually the case for technical textiles. The joining of airbag fabrics – made of nylon (PA 6.6) or polyester (PES) – is a potential welding application in the future. C orresponding developments are stimulated by the airbag industry due to important drawbacks of the s ewing process, e.g. seam leakage behaviour, occurrence of stitch errors as well as limited degr ee of automation. However, the requirements on the seam strength are extremely high (tensile strength 1,000 N/5cm according to a tensile test specified b y DIN EN ISO 13935-1) and so far cannot be fulfilled by ultrasonic welding. Laser welding may be an alternative joining techniq ue for airbag fabrics as it enables much higher seam strengths than ultrasonic welding. The basic p rinciples of laser-based airbag welding are presented and discussed for a driver airbag as an e xample. Furthermore, the influence of different process parameters on the seam strength as well as aspects of seam construction and quality control are shown.