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Can free flight offer a solution to the problem? Tests in flight simulators have shown that free flight could make it easier to keep track of air traffic in the extremely busy airspace over Europe. But how does it work? With free flight, aircraft would be free to fly as they like. Collision avoidance would be handled by on-board computers in cooperation with the pilots. On a technical level, the navigation computer in each plane would regularly send course data to all other aircraft in the area. If there is a danger of collision, the aircraft follows fixed rules to avoid one other. Aircraft would be able to fly the shortest route to their destination at the ideal altitude and speed, thus saving fuel. More aircraft could cross the same airspace if traffic was not restricted to the airways. And the more even distribution of aircraft in the airspace would equalize the volume of traffic.

Specialists of the Airline Operations Solutions business division at Lufthansa Systems are already working on an optimization function for the Lido OC flight planning solution. This will allow the application to independently calculate free flight routes in special airspaces and integrate them into the conventional route network.

Internet-on-board of cruise ships
Cruise passengers are increasingly demanding mobile access to all of the opportunities they have been used for some time now on shore. Thanks to technology by Lufthansa Systems, cruise passengers on board the German cruise ship EUROPA are able to enjoy all the comforts of modern communication and entertainment technology. The EUROPA is the flagship of the Hapag-Lloyd cruise fleet. In the past five years, it was the only cruise ship in the world to be awarded the "5-star-plus” rating by the Berlitz Cruise Guide.

All passengers on the EUROPA now have access from their suites to the Internet and to an intranet containing current travel information and billing data. They can download their email, receive a number of radio and television programs, enjoy audio and video on demand, and stay in touch with their loved ones at home via satellite. Modern IP telephony is being used for on-board communications.

Lufthansa Systems is able to unite all of the necessary technologies in SkyTainment, a single, future-proof system, which was developed especially for use in mobile environments such as airplanes, ships and buses. It provides many communication options to the passengers, in addition to considerable cost advantages compared to previous solutions. The strong growth of the cruise market in general is very promising for Lufthansa Systems and the company is currently in close talks with a number of prospects to introduce this technology. In addition, a partnership with a leading systems provider to shipyards and shipping companies worldwide will be established shortly to further strengthen Lufthansa Systems' presence in this market.