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How to reduce operating costs with cutting-edge flight planning services
Lufthansa Systems’ Lido FPLS for small and mid-sized airlines
Today’s economic conditions force all airlines to quickly and sustainably improve their efficiency. With optimized flight planning they can save fuel and reduce operating costs. Lufthansa Systems offers comprehensive flight planning services which enable small and medium-sized airlines to benefit from the powerful optimization capabilities of Lido OC, Lufthansa Systems’ leading flight planning solution, without having to make a major upfront investment.
Lido FPLS (Flight Planning Services) provide high-quality briefing packages and optimized flight plans. It calculates the optimal route between two airports while taking flight-related information into account such as weather data and all current aeronautical restrictions such as NOTAMs. Lido FPLS employs the optimizers and algorithms of Lido OC which can reduce fuel consumption by up to five percent solely as a result of optimized route planning. Customers of Lido FPLS can also benefit from the innovative TFR (Traffic Flow Restrictions) functionality of Lido OC that automatically considers even partially restricted airways and to calculate the most effective combination of airway segments.
Lido FPLS is specially adapted to the needs of small and medium-sized airlines or the sub-fleets of larger carriers. Highly qualified dispatchers with many years of experience are on duty around the clock in Lufthansa Systems’ Flight Planning Support Center to provide this comprehensive flight planning services. Airlines can order their briefing packages through a modern web interface by uploading their operational flight plans and specify planning parameters for each flight. Lido FPLS takes into account individual airline requirements such as fuel surcharges and pre-defined company routes. At the requested time, the airline receives a briefing package as a hard copy or in electronic form.
This briefing perfectly matches the specified weight of the aircraft and the number of passengers. It contains the most efficient flight route as well as all flight and airport weather data together with current NOTAMs. Customers can individually determine the level of detail provided in their briefing packages.
Lufthansa Systems has many years of experience in the field of flight planning. Many airlines from all parts of the world have deployed the Lido OC flight planning solution. Today, around 40 percent of all flights by European airlines are planned with Lido OC. Lufthansa Systems’ flight planning solutions Lido OC and Lido FPLS rely on the company’s own navigation database containing aeronautical data from all over the world, e.g. the arrival and departure routes of around 10,000 airports, 11,000 airways and 129,000 waypoints. Every day, the database processes up to 4,000 NOTAMs and 40,000 METAR weather reports.
Smart IT module from Lufthansa Systems simplifies API crew data transmission
Security requirements in international aviation have increased over recent years. Authorities require additional personal information before they allow travellers to enter certain countries. In most cases, the data is expected hours before a flight arrives at its destination, sometimes even before departure. Airlines are required to collect this information from passengers and transmit it via the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS). Not surprisingly, these standards also apply to flight crew. As crew members fly on international routes day after day, airlines rely on an automatized solution that collects and manages data entries directly. Lufthansa Systems’ innovative crew management solution, NetLine/Crew, covers this important step in flight preparation through its APIS Messages module. NetLine/Crew is a sophisticated IT solution that covers the entire process of crew management, including pairing construction, duty assignments and crew tracking. Planners need to consider network requirements, legal and contractual regulations, training needs, vacation entitlements and crew preferences. In a major international network carrier with thousands of cockpit and cabin crew members, this is an extremely complex task. NetLine/Crew provides planners with a set of decision support tools that enables them to create efficient, legal and satisfying duty rosters. Furthermore, it collects the required crew data for transmission to the relevant authorities. NetLine/Crew also delivers an economic benefit to the airline: It increases planned crew productivity and optimizes indirect crew costs by up to 2 percent. For crew members and other airline staff on board, one out of two types of APIS messages may be required depending on the destination. Most countries require Flight Crew Manifests (FCM), containing the full name, gender, date of birth and passport number of each crew member. On the other hand, the Master Crew List (MCL) is currently only required for transmission to the United States’ authorities. For MCLs, a crew member’s nationality and pilot license details, if applicable, need to be submitted in addition to the FCM data. To ensure that the required data is always available for each crew member, the input is organized and stored in the database. If a certain data attribute is missing, a violation message will appear should a crew member be assigned to fly to a destination that requires this input. The planner must then exchange the crew member or supply the missing data. The NetLine/Crew APIS Messages module offers automatic message transmission by means of a task scheduler. This feature triggers the transmission based on specified timings relative to a flight’s departure or arrival times using country specific rules for API generation as reference. The module supports different country regulations such as for the USA, China, or the UK. For any updated or additional information, ground staff can transmit the required information manually. APIS crew messages can be sent via telex, email or web service, depending on the relevant authority’s guidelines. APIS messaging is an integral part of crew management and flight preparation. Missing data of a single crew member could jeopardize the departure of the flight itself, causing unnecessary costs and difficulties to the airline and its passengers.
The amount of data makes it necessary for airline planners to rely on sophisticated IT that ensures the availability and correctness of all data. The NetLine/Crew APIS Messages module fulfills these requirements and is therefore an important step towards reliable and efficient flight operations.
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