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From Take-off to Landing
Lufthansa Systems’ Aircraft Performance solutions
Just a couple of years ago for most flights there was only one power setting at take-off: 100 percent. Today airlines have become a lot smarter - thanks to the use of sophisticated aircraft performance solutions for all phases of the flight provided to them by Lufthansa Systems. The benefits are significant - economically as well as ecologically.
How much thrust an aircraft really needs for a safe take-off depends on numerous variables - the aircraft's take-off weight and flap setting, the length and the gradient of the runway, obstacles around the airport, temperature, atmospheric pressure and wind have to be taken into consideration. Pilots who use LinTop (Lido integrated take-off performance), a module of Lufthansa Systems’ flight planning solution Lido OC, just need to send a take-off request with the final weight, flap settings and temperature via data link to Lido OC. What they get back is a comprehensive set of optimized take-off parameters. It includes the optimum take-off thrust, all relevant speeds (V1, VR, V2) for take-off and climb-out and even the relevant procedures for landing in case of an engine failure.
Reduced take off thrust setting, as it is standard today, comes with a many benefits. Optimum thrust means less fuel burn, less emissions and less noise for every take-off. Additionally it reduces the wear on the engine and its components, which results in a slower degradation of the engine's performance. After 1,000 flights an engine which has been operated with 15 percent lower take-off thrust has a 0.4 percent better fuel consumption, which means average annual fuel savings of 70 to 80 tons per long-range aircraft and some 20 tons per aircraft of the A320/737 category. Additionally the engines will stay much, much longer on wing until the next costly overhaul.
The Lido OC add-on LinLap combines airport and aircraft relevant data for an integrated landing performance calculation. It allows the dispatcher to calculate the maximum allowed landing weight for the destination and the alternates for the chosen aircraft and aircraft configuration. The airport situation with e.g. runway limits and climb gradients is considered. As landing result different limiting weights are calculated, the most conservative is taken into consideration. Due to precise calculations this allows for a higher landing weight, which in many cases results in a higher payload and additional revenues without compromising safety. Furthermore it makes good economic sense, too
Besides the Lido OC modules Lufthansa Systems as well offers solutions for calculating the optimum parameters for take-off and landing conveniently, reliably and safely on-board using the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB).
All performance solutions of Lufthansa Systems not only simplify the flight preparation and reduce the potential for manual errors but help airlines to save fuel and to increase on-wing time of their engines. They are designed to ensure safe and legal operations, save costs and improve fleet performance. They are based on a close cooperation with international organizations and authorities, such as FAA, EASA, ICAO and IATA. Furthermore Lufthansa Systems cooperate continually with aircraft and engine manufacturers as well as with airport authorities.
Integrated approach for all phases of airline planning
Lufthansa Systems’ market analysis solution Advance becomes NetLine/Market
In today’s aviation business, market knowledge is of utmost importance. Competition between airlines is intense, even more so since the current decline in passenger numbers forces carriers to react quickly to the changing market conditions. In order to adjust capacity and schedules to demand as closely as possible, airlines routinely analyze past booking data in an aggregated and anonymous form.
Lufthansa Systems has now taken this process to a new level: Raw ticket and booking data is not suitable for the pure analysis of global traffic flows or airline market shares. Consequently, the data needs to be processed. This includes data cleaning and enhancement. The result of the data processing allows the customer to see detailed market information. It can also be used as a pre-stage for the network planning and scheduling process. To offer maximum customer benefit, Lufthansa Systems has now integrated its “Advance” data processing and analysis solution into the well-established NetLine suite under the new name NetLine/Market.
NetLine/Market is closely linked to NetLine/Plan, our strategic long term network planning solution. Through the integration both systems can now use the same data sources for consecutive planning steps. They actually access various sources, so airlines have an alternative to the costly provision of data from only one source via an exclusive provider. The integration is part of a general trend towards platform solutions that gives users a comprehensive view of the relevant information.
The idea behind the integrated approach is simple: Current solutions like NetLine/Plan and the schedule management solution NetLine/Sched save costs and increase revenues by calculating optimized flight schedules. To maximize these benefits, NetLine/Market shows in which markets or on which routes competing carriers are active. In addition airlines can analyze how many passengers have booked a flight through which channels during the last weeks. As a result a marketing and sales strategy can be developed to extend the market share by increasing the sales figures in highly competitive markets.
Many airlines have voiced their interest in an integrated market data solution. Addressing this demand, the new NetLine/Market is a valuable addition to NetLine/Plan, /Sched, /Ops, and /Crew. Now more than anytime before, the enhanced NetLine suite provides airlines with added value - because, as the saying goes, Knowledge is Power.
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