Newsletter for Media Representatives
Hot Topics
Check-in solutions for all channels
Lufthansa Systems extends its GroundSolutions Platform with new featuresA comfortable flight starts on the ground. Apart from buying a ticket, check-in is the first opportunity for an airline to provide a convenient, seamless customer experience to its passengers – or to spoil it. Lufthansa Systems’ GroundSolutions Platform covers all check-in channels including Internet, kiosk, mobile device and robot as well as desk. It has now been enhanced with a new upgrade feature for its Internet module, GroundSolutions/Web. With this innovation, the airline uses the Internet check-in process to generate additional revenue by offering its passengers an upgrade to a higher service class. Travelers can choose to pay by credit card or bonus miles. The carrier can control the availability and price of the upgrade offer for each flight individually, based on the number of seats left unsold. This makes passengers who originally did not intend to fly in Business or First Class think again: Shortly before departure, a comfortable flight may be considered more important than at booking time. As a result, the airline can turn the check-in process into a flexible and virtual shopping experience for the passenger. This generates additional revenues and at the same time relieves airport infrastructure. Austrian Airlines is the first carrier to use this new feature, and the success of the solution speaks for itself. The GroundSolutions Platform offers a consistent passenger experience, regardless of the check-in channel. Flexibility is what counts. A traveler may use a mobile device on a business trip on Monday, while he prefers to use the kiosk for his weekend leisure trip. Someone else likes to quickly check-in via the Internet from home where he is online anyway. With a home-printed boarding pass, or with a digital one downloaded to a mobile device, passengers can proceed directly to the departure gate, saving valuable time before departure. At the end of the day, both the airline and its passengers benefit from the wide range of check-in options. As competition in the airline industry is constantly growing, airlines need to be creative to distinguish themselves in the market. The GroundSolutions Platform from Lufthansa Systems enables carriers to re-think existing processes and look for new opportunities in order to always fly a step ahead.
A380: IT solutions of Lufthansa Systems are ready for take off
In May Lufthansa will receive its first Airbus A380. IT plays a critical role in bringing the new airplane into service. Well ahead of the arrival of the superjumbo the experts of Lufthansa Systems have completed the preparations. In fact, many of its IT solutions were already in use during test and route proving flights several years ago. Check-in and boarding for an A380 flight require a sophisticated IT solution. As the A380 has two decks, gate staff must be able to switch between the seat maps for both decks. Lufthansa Systems has adapted its solution including the boarding module which covers boarding from different levels in order to save precious ground time. Another important part of flight preparations is load planning. Ensuring the aircraft’s center of gravity is within certain limits is critical for safety. By optimizing Lufthansa Systems’ proven load planning solution NetLine/Load reduces aerodynamic drag and cuts fuel consumption by up to 0.5 percent fuel. The software has been updated to the specifics of the A380, which for example is the first aircraft with three rows of containers in its belly. Additionally the number of passengers and bags, payload, maximum take-off weight and other parameters exceeded the limitations of the load planning solution. When it comes to flight planning, it must be taken into account that because of its size and the need for specially trained airport staff the A380 can only land at certain airports. This affects flight dispatch as it limits potential alternate airports en route. Beyond this information, data regarding aircraft performance and fuel consumption had to be included into the central aeronautical database of Lufthansa Systems. This information is for example used by Lufthansa Systems’ flight planning solution Lido/Flight to calculate the optimum route for every flight, which reduces fuel consumption by up to five percent. In fact Lufthansa Systems is routinely optimizing A380 flights for customers using Lido/Flight. The performance data are necessary as well to calculate the optimum power setting for every take-off, which as well saves fuel and extends the times between engine overhaul. On the ground and in the air pilots need to have quick and easy access to many information at any time. Lufthansa pilots on-board the A380 will be the first to use the advanced version of the Electronic Flight Operations Manual (EFOM), which has been developed by Lufthansa Systems. Because the A380 is different to any other aircraft model in the fleet of the German airline, the content of the manual had to be worked out from scratch. With all preparations in place, Lufthansa Systems is ready for the A380, demonstrating once again its industry expertise and know-how.
back