insight newsletter - March 2010

TAP continues to optimize its routes with Lido/Flight from Lufthansa Systems. The Portuguese airline recently renewed its contract until 2017. The agreement also includes the implementation of further Lido/Flight add-ons such as Traffic Flow Restrictions (TFR) and Inflight Monitor (IFM).

TAP has been using Lido/Flight since September 2006. The industry-leading flight planning solution provides dispatchers with a host of optimization options regarding flight time, fuel consumption or costs of each flight. Drawing on its own database, the integrated solution uses a number of parameters to calculate the optimal route for each flight, which leads to fuel savings of up to five percent.

TAP will benefit from additional innovative add-ons of Lido/Flight. While TFR achieves fuel savings by taking the highly complex issue of temporarily restricted airways into account, the IFM module automatically monitors every flight which has been calculated but not yet completed. The system reports all updated airspace restrictions, airport data and weather and automatically suggests alternative routes to the dispatcher if necessary.

Lido/Flight is part of the Integrated Operations Control Center Platform (IOCC) from Lufthansa Systems. The integrated components of the IOCC Platform cover all aspects of airline operations, including schedule management, operations control, crew management, flight planning and weight & balance. The IOCC Platform allows airlines to optimize the complex processes of their flight operations, resulting in considerable cost savings and added passenger satisfaction.

Bulgaria Air will use Lido/RouteManual, the navigation charts from Lufthansa Systems, for its Airbus and Boeing fleet. The two companies recently signed a five-year-contract to this effect which also includes an option to migrate to the electronic version of the charts (Lido/eRouteManual). The layout, colors and symbols are identical in the paper-based and the electronic version, which will make it easier for Bulgaria Air’s pilots to switch to Lido/eRouteManual.

With the innovative solution the airline can optimize its flight operations and benefit from the high quality of the Lufthansa Systems navigation charts. The charts are generated directly from the Lido navigation database. They include true-to-scale geographic information such as terrain features and rivers. The charts include airport taxiway charts, approach and takeoff charts, and a seamless worldwide route chart. The value of Lido/RouteManual lies in the easy legibility and the clear structure of the individual charts. This reduces the pilots' workload in the cockpit, especially during key flight situations such as take-off and landing.

Singapore Airlines calculated the route of its recent ASPIRE (Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions) flight with FreeFlight, one of the enhancements of Lufthansa Systems’ dispatch solution Lido/Flight. The flight, which departed Los Angeles on 31 January and reached Singapore on 2 February via Tokyo, achieved fuel savings of more than 10 tons and a reduction in carbon emissions of more than 33 tons.

With FreeFlight, airlines can optimize routes in free flight airspaces in which airlines can choose any route between A and B without being restricted by airways. As an industry first, the FreeFlight module of Lido/Flight can optimize flight paths by using geographical co-ordinates instead of waypoints and radio beacons. The method of “trajectory-based flight plan optimization” dramatically improves the fuel efficiency of every flight.

Austrian Airlines is the first carrier to use the new upgrade feature of Lufthansa Systems’ Internet check-in solution. Passengers can buy an upgrade to Business Class while checking in online. This enables Austrian to generate extra revenues in times of permanently low yields.

The Internet upgrade feature is part of the GroundSolutions check-in suite, of which Austrian has been using the Internet (GroundSolutions/Web) and mobile device (GroundSolutions/Mobile) solutions for some time. With the new feature, the airline can individually control the availability and pricing of the upgrade offers depending on the booking situation of every single flight. Passengers can choose between payment via credit card or by spending their bonus miles.

With NetLine SP Lufthansa Systems presents a comprehensive operational planning and control solution aimed specifically at start-up, regional and low-cost airlines. The IT solution combines the industry-renowned performance of the NetLine Suite with professional hosting in the Lufthansa Systems data center. This gives airlines the benefit of a full-fledged planning and control system for a low investment with a short amortization period.

NetLine SP – short for NetLine Service Providing – is a clearly structured package consisting of NetLine/Sched, NetLine/Crew and NetLine/Ops. These basic components cover the key aspects of airline operations, including scheduling, crew management and operations control. Airlines may also opt for various supplemental modules such as NetLine/Crew CrewLink, NetLine/Ops MaintenanceControl or NetLine/Sched Slot Manager as well as special services such as project support or user training.

NetLine SP is an integrated planning and control system which eliminates the need for airlines to invest in their own IT infrastructure. The roughly six-month implementation phase is much shorter than usual, and the monthly system costs are low. Also, if an airline’s requirements change, the airline can easily migrate to a customized ASP model. With product components tailored precisely to the needs of start-up, regional and low-cost carriers, NetLine SP is a significant new chapter in the NetLine Suite success story.

Managing crews and their shifts is a complex job. A host of legal, contractual and operational regulations need to be observed, and the sheer number of crew members in a large network airline makes it impossible to do without a sophisticated IT solution. However, simply doing crew planning on a stand-alone basis does not automatically lead to the best possible result for the airline. In case of last minute changes, planners need to find solutions that resolve the problem without interfering with other areas of flight operations. This is the advantage of Lufthansa Systems’ Integrated Operations Control Center Platform (IOCC). The crew optimizers work well within our crew management solution NetLine/Crew, however they really shine when used as part of the IOCC Platform.

NetLine/Crew Pairing xOPT generates a cost-efficient yet stable set of rotations. By checking various scenarios, the planner finally arrives at the best possible solution. This rotation is then assigned to individual crew members. Airlines can choose to follow the principle of fair assignment using NetLine/Crew Fairness xOPT which treats all crew members equal in terms of flight hours, overnight stays and overtime. By using NetLine/Crew Preferences xOPT, certain staff members can be given priority for popular routes or less overnight stays.

The big advantage of the crew optimizers is their flexibility when it comes to last minute changes due to sick crew members or operational irregularities. Once all functionalities are available, crew controllers can access all relevant data and assess solutions with respect to their impact to the company as a whole. It is this comprehensive view across departments that provides a clear economic benefit to the airline. Our IOCC Platform promotes efficiency and optimized solutions to operational challenges. But it also provides better service to passengers due to minimized impact of irregularities - and satisfied passengers mean money well earned.

Lufthansa Systems received the 2010 ATW Gold AdAward for an advertisement entitled "Is fuel vaporizing your cash?". The motif shows how fuel clouds in the form of dollar signs fade away from an aircraft. With this award the readers of the renowned trade magazine Air Transport World (ATW) honored Lufthansa Systems' commitment to the extremely topical subject of fuel and cost savings for airlines.

The magazine presented the 2010 ATW AdAwards at this year's Singapore Airshow. Every year, based on readers' votes, ATW pays tribute to outstanding advertisements inserted in the magazine.

The advertised product - Lido/Flight (former Lido OC) - is one of the most efficient flight path planning solutions in the world. It can help to reduce an airline's fuel costs by up to 5 percent.