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Three clicks to calculate a flight plan
Lufthansa Systems’ Lido OC automates flight planning process
Lido Operations Center (Lido OC) from Lufthansa Systems has long been established as a market-leading flight planning solution. Lido OC automatically calculates the ideal route between two airports and creates reliable and easy-to-understand briefing documents for each flight. The solution combines safety and flexibility with the power to significantly increase efficiency and reduce fuel burn. This is a good example of how Lido OC can help airlines reduce CO2 emissions and save costs. Aside from its key functionality - calculation of highly efficient flight plan - Lido OC offers optional automation modules, which facilitate dispatchers' work in various subtasks. One of these modules is the Airline Operations Support module.
Based on the highly complex Lido OC algorithms, the Airline Operations Support module supports dispatchers by automating the flight planning process. Taking into account applicable regulations, airlines can either partially or fully automate their processes for calculating and optimizing flight plans and distributing briefing packets to pilots. This is particularly important in the U.S. market, where dispatchers share joint responsibility with pilots for the entire flight route and full automation is not permitted.
Partially automated flight planning requires just three clicks from the dispatcher. With the first click, the dispatcher selects a flight from the list which has been prepared by the tool. The second click opens the overview of calculation results and allows the dispatcher to check the optimization, routing, alternative airports for the flight etc. With the third click, the operational flight plan is transmitted to the authorities and the prepared briefing packet is sent to the pilot.
The Airline Operations Support module is regulated by airline-specific rules. Each Lido OC customer defines these rules individually and thus selects the flights which are eligible for automatic calculation. Experienced dispatchers will already know the appropriate optimization parameters for certain flights, and these are the flights which are particularly suited to automated route planning.
The system also responds to changes. It automatically initiates a recalculation if a different aircraft is used or the weight of a flight changes. The system can abort a calculation or issue a warning when it encounters aeronautical restrictions defined by the airline. For example, if the Airline Operations Support module determines that the desired optimization is not possible due to current airspace restrictions or a lack of alternative airports, it immediately involves the dispatcher in the planning process.
Since the calculation tool has full access to all Lido OC functions, it can also be used for calculating ETOPS flights, tankering (carrying fuel for subsequent legs in order to cut fuel costs or refueling times at the destination airport), and dynamic route calculation with TFR (Traffic Flow Restrictions).
Nearly all Lido OC customers use the Airline Operations Support module, some for short- to medium-haul flights, others for all of their long-haul flights as well. The solution saves valuable time which dispatchers can then use to optimize the flights really requiring their interaction.
Lufthansa Systems introduces next generation of Point-to-Point operations
First tests of new NetLine/Plan Optimizer suggest strong increases in profitability
When designing a flight schedule, an airline has to make a fundamental decision based on its business model: Will it offer a sophisticated but complex network with numerous connections for added passenger convenience? Or is it better to establish a point-to-point system where flights are treated strictly individually and passengers take care of their own transfers? The answer to this problem determines the way the daily flight operations will work.
In a network schedule, the airline ensures connections to and from its hub airports throughout the day. Passengers fly in, connect and fly out within a short period of time. Aircraft rotations are scheduled around this necessity: After arrival they do not fly back to their port of origin but they fly a completely different leg depending on what the optimized overall schedule stipulates. In a point-to-point system, on the other hand, each aircraft plies back and forth between certain airports during the day. This pattern is also called "ping-pong" flying. It cuts out a lot of complexity and makes operations less costly, if less convenient for passengers as transfers are not provided.
To optimize a schedule for point-to-point traffic, Lufthansa Systems has developed a prototype for a long-term point-to-point schedule optimizer in its NetLine/Plan suite. From a given set of possible destinations and fleet bases, the optimizer will design an optimal schedule for point-to-point traffic, considering forecast demand and yields as well as obeying rotational constraints such as curfews and ground times. It designs an optimal schedule, where all profitable destinations are served from the optimal fleet bases in an optimal frequency. For this, the optimizer also uses flying patterns which are beyond pure ping-pong. In first tests, the schedule profitability has been improved by more than 50% compared to a pure ping-pong schedule. While these results need to be confirmed in more tests over time, the optimizer is able to improve the profitability of existing schedules by adjusting rotations and frequencies. It also allows including new routes and dropping unprofitable ones.
The high-level scientific approach necessary for this solution was achieved through a close cooperation between Lufthansa Systems and the University of Augsburg, a research institute of excellent repute in the areas of market research and data analysis. Lufthansa Systems has successfully involved the University of Augsburg in several system development projects before. There are several advantages to the new prototype: It optimizes schedule design and rotation building in an integrated manner. That means no adjustment is necessary afterwards to harmonize the flight schedule with aircraft rotations. It directly creates a profitable schedule as it considers costs and revenues. And is extremely fast: A scheduling problem for an airline with 60 destinations and 15 fleet bases can be solved within 30 seconds. Especially low-fare airlines that usually fly in a ping-pong pattern can generate a high increase in profitability.
NetLine/Plan is Lufthansa Systems’ strategic network planning solution designed to optimize an airline’s network within a complex environment. The solution highlights the strengths and weaknesses of own and competitors’ networks and reveals the effect of other airline networks on the carrier’s flight profitability.
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