Dubai Airshow: Lufthansa Systems to add Etihad fuel saving

The UAE airline signed a deal at the show with aviation IT specialist Lufthansa Systems which will see the airline use the flight planning solution Lido/Flight

  “Lido will enable our pilots to get an flight plan that will optimise the routing taking account weather and the overfly costs. Reducing fuel burn will reduce costs and at the same time we reduce emissions,” said Capt Richard Hill, Etihad’s chief operating officer

The contract with the German IT specialist also includes a number of Lido/Flight add-ons which further improves the flight planning processes including Traffic Flow Restrictions (TFR), Inflight Monitor (IFM) and FreeFlight.
Drawing on its own powerful database, Lido/Flight uses a number of parameters to calculate the optimal route for each flight, which can lead to cost savings of up to five per cent.

Hill said: “Etihad Airways is one of the world’s fastest-growing commercial airlines. The addition of these new planning systems provides the modern technology and tools we need to manage our future growth more proactively and effectively.

“As we continue to grow our network, the Lido/Flight system will help us achieve significant cost savings as well as enhance the airline’s operational flexibility. This is a powerful solution which is capable of much more than just providing route planning and monitoring of flights. With valuable functions running in the background, we will be able to operate our flights using the best possible routings and with minimum emissions.”

TFR achieves fuel savings by factoring in the impact of temporarily restricted airways, while the IFM system provides updates on airspace restrictions, airport data and weather and automatically suggests alternative routes to the dispatcher if necessary.

Stefan Auerbach, Senior Vice President Sales EMEA at Lufthansa Systems, added: "We are proud that Etihad has expanded its cooperation with Lufthansa Systems and will rely on our flight planning solutions to enhance their operational efficiency. As the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad's decision will help us to further increase our customer base across the Middle East."

Etihad already uses the NetLine/Plan and NetLine/Sched solutions for planning and scheduling, as well as managed WAN (Wide Area Network) services from Lufthansa Systems.