November 14, 2005

The Dutch carrier selects Lido Route Manual for electronically generated navigation charts

Martinair has signed a contract with Lufthansa Systems for the use of Lido Route Manual. A longtime customer of Lufthansa Systems’ flight planning system Lido OC and FMS Nav database, Martinair sees the charts as an important step in the direction of a paperless cockpit: “The use of Lido Route Manual with the electronically generated charts will ensure that our pilots fly with the technologically most advanced chart product available in the industry,” said Rob van Hunen, Director Flight Operations Support at Martinair.

Lido Route Manual is generated directly from a database which is based on worldwide geographical and aeronautical data. The charts contain current notices and regulations for each flight, approach and take-off procedures for airports, and special features which must be taken into account when flying over a particular region. The high degree of automation considerably reduces the amount of manual effort and thus the production time necessary for creating and modifying such charts. This also has a positive affect on the subsequent quality control of the charts.

As an intermediate step on the way to a paperless cockpit, the use of printed charts generated by Lido Route Manual and the extensive use of Lufthansa Systems’ Internet-based Flight Information Viewer puts Martinair in an ideal position to take advantage of Lido eRoute Manual with EFB in the future.

”We are pleased that Martinair trusts us to pave the way for the paperless cockpit. This adds another chapter in the success story of our long and excellent cooperation.” said Wolfgang F. W. Gohde, CEO of Lufthansa Systems.

Martinair has been using aeronautical IT solutions from Lufthansa Systems since 1997. The Lido Navigation Database provides the airline with complete, individually prepared data for its Flight Management System every month. The Lido Operations Center (Lido OC) is a key instrument for planning flight routes and flight operations. It is fully integrated in the Flight Following System of Martinair and covers all aspects of route planning and the associated follow-up processes. It draws on its own database which helps it to automatically calculate the ideal route between two airports and to create safe and easy-to-understand briefing documents for each flight. Lido OC is considered to be the most flexible system in the industry, and it has helped the Dutch airline save dispatch costs. Martinair has also decided to continue to rely on the functionality of Lido OC for route planning and has just extended the contract for Lido OC for another five years.

Note to editors:

Martinair was founded in 1958. It now has over 3,500 employees and a fleet of 20 aircraft, including the Boeing 747 and 767-300 ER as well as the MD-11 for long-haul flights, and the Airbus A320 for shorter routes. The company flies passengers to popular holiday destinations in the Caribbean, the USA, Canada, Mexico and Far East Together with its worldwide cargo network, the Martinair network covers over 90 destinations.

Lufthansa Systems is one of the leading IT service providers for the airline and aviation industries worldwide. As systems integrator, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group covers the entire range of IT services, including consulting, development, implementation and operation. Lufthansa Systems provides its IT infrastructure and operations services to a variety of industries. Headquartered in Kelsterbach near Frankfurt/Main, Germany, the company has branches in Germany and 17 countries and employs about 4,500 people worldwide. In business year 2004, Lufthansa Systems recorded sales of EUR 628 million.