Etihad splashes out on Lufthansa's Lido

Etihad is about to introduce sophisticated flight planning software to reduce fuel burn by some two per cent and make other savings through improved routing.

The UAE airline signed a deal at the Dubai Airshow in November with German aviation IT specialist Lufthansa Systems, which will see the airline use the flight planning solution Lido/Flight.

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

Hill said the airline had been working with IATA to reduce costs and emissions for almost two years. “We identified the potential from the planning area,” he said. “We already had a manual system but by introducing the new technology we will be able to make significant savings of up to two per cent from the basic fuel burn and up to five per cent from some of the overflights.”

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.

Stefan Auerbach, senior vice president sales EMEA at Lufthansa Systems said the savings could be even higher, particularly as the airline grows.

“Lido targets not only minimum fuel burn but also other flight charges and allows you to choose minimum time or distance. It files data from various sources, such as notices to airmen (NOTAMS), into the system and becomes the base for optimisation. It gives the pilots complete briefing for their flights. Going forward, you can manage a growing number of flights without increasing the numbers of dispatchers.”

This could benefit Etihad as it continues its rapid expansion. 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 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.

Auerbach said: “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 Wide Area Network (WAN) services from Lufthansa Systems.

Richard Dawson who heads IT for the airline said the system will be introduced during the first quarter of 2010 and would be fully operational by the third quarter.