Warning: Implement custom ui for this post type.

SEPANG, 30 January 2020 – In line with its continued focus on innovation and sustainability, AirAsia is taking its environmental responsibilities a step further by implementing digital solutions that are aimed at further improving fuel efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.

Developed by Paris-based Safety Line, the OptiFlight-In-flight guidance is a unique suite of digital solutions that optimises all flight phases. 

Following extensive validation tests, AirAsia has implemented OptiClimb which will save up to 3 percent of its climb fuel, potentially representing a fleetwide carbon footprint reduction of at least 73,000 tons of CO2 per year.

By introducing a number of new digital initiatives to its flight operations, AirAsia is not only offsetting its carbon emissions but also pro-actively reducing them at the source whilst also further reducing costs for the benefit of its customers.

AirAsia Group Chief Operations Officer Javed Malik said, “AirAsia is making every effort to improve its operational efficiency and become a digital airline in all aspects of our business including flight operations, and OptiFlight will allow us to leverage vast amounts of flight data with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions. Needless to say, we are excited to be the very first airline to implement OptiClimb in Asia and we continue to look at new ways to innovate and further reduce our carbon footprint.”

On leveraging data to reduce emissions, Safety Line Founder & CEO, Pierre Jouniaux said, “On AirAsia’s medium haul flights, the initial climb alone can represent more than 30% of trip fuel, offering the most potential for savings. However, climb is also the most complex phase, with many parameters changing simultaneously as the aircraft ascends. AirAsia will use historical flight data and Artificial Intelligence to address this complexity and predict fuel burn in different scenarios to recommend optimal climb speeds to pilots for each flight, taking into account individual aircraft performance and accurate 4D weather forecasts.” 

Jouniaux further added, “Getting AirAsia on board as a customer and innovation partner is a privilege and we look forward to working closely together to explore ways of reducing Air Transport’s carbon footprint.” 

In addition to implementing OptiClimb, AirAsia has joined the OptiFlight Innovation Partnership in September 2019 which provides further flight optimization opportunities that will be explored in all flight phases. For instance, AirAsia will be the first airline in Asia to trial OptiDirect, a solution that recommends some adjustments to pilots based on historical tracks flown and forecasted weather on the route.

30 January, 2020

Earlier in the month, we revealed some of the Top 20 Safest Airlines according to AirlineRatings.com. The ratings website also recently published the Top 10 Safest Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs) in another list which once again showcased some FLYdocs clients.

In another proud moment for FLYdocs, we are delighted to see that 40% of the Top 10 LCCs featured are FLYdocs clients. We applaud Flybe (2), Frontier (3), Vueling (8) and Wizz (10) for maintaining excellent safety records in accordance with International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).

See the full top 10 list below:

1. Air Arabia
2. Flybe
3. Frontier
4. HK Express
5. IndiGo
6. Jetblue
7. Volaris
8. Vueling
9. Westjet
10. Wizz

NetLine/Sched and ProfitLine/Price now in use by the African airline

Raunheim, January 28, 2020 – Lufthansa Systems today announced that the national carrier of the Republic of Rwanda is now using the NetLine/Sched and ProfitLine/Price solutions. These products will optimize RwandAir’s complex flight scheduling and efficiently determine the best ticket prices based on the current market situation as well as supply and demand. RwandAir and its passengers will both benefit from these important control tools, which will simplify scheduling and support the airline’s expansion of its route network and available flights.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, Rwandair CEO, said: “Thanks to our adaption of Lufthansa Systems’ scheduling and pricing solutions, our customers will be able to find fares more easily and enjoy an easy–to-understand flight schedule. Working closely with Lufthansa Systems, we have been able to optimize our ticket pricing and flight schedules to ensure RwandAir continues its ambitious growth as it enters into exciting new markets.”

NetLine/Sched, the schedule management system from Lufthansa Systems, helps airlines to make quick and well-founded decisions when creating and optimizing their flight schedules while taking operational and economic aspects into account. This is important due to the extremely volatile competitive environment in the airline industry, which permanently affects an airline’s flight schedule and makes short-term modifications necessary. NetLine/Sched perfectly supports this highly complex process. Among other things, the solution helps to evaluate different schedule scenarios from an economic perspective. Using NetLine/Sched, airlines can take measures quickly and effectively to optimize their schedules.

ProfitLine/Price is a comprehensive pricing system which considers the current competitive situation, price trends and underlying fare structures. It covers all core processes in both reactive and proactive pricing for published and market fares. In addition to enabling airlines to react swiftly to market changes, the system provides powerful analysis tools for developing effective pricing strategies. Its integrated pricing simulation model goes one step further by forecasting revenue changes based on fare modifications.

“We are delighted that RwandAir, an important customer in Africa, is now relying on our NetLine/Sched and ProfitLine/Price solutions. I am certain that both products will make a significant contribution to the airline’s expansion plans,” said Marco Cesa, Vice President Regional Management EMEA at Lufthansa Systems.

Scandinavian Airlines Ireland Ltd, Irish subsidiary of Scandinavia’s leading airline, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), announced the successful implementation of OpenAirlines’ SkyBreathe® eco-flying solution to pursue their commitment to sustainable development.

SkyBreathe® Fuel Efficiency is an innovative solution using Big Data Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning to automatically analyze billions of data points from Flight Recorders. By combining them with data from the actual flight conditions (Payload, weather conditions, flight path, ATC constraints, etc.), the software identifies the most relevant saving opportunities.

Based on this information, SAS Ireland benefits from an accurate and deep understanding of fuel usage through all phases of flight to implement the most efficient procedures without compromising safety. 

“As part of SAS Group, SAS Ireland has many initiatives in motion to lower its CO2 emissions and other environmental impacts. To go further, we needed to have a better understanding of our fuel consumption, that’s why we selected SkyBreathe®. The software will be a great asset to help us achieve our goals.” said Eoin O’Malley, Flight Operations Manager at SAS Ireland.

“We are thrilled to have been selected by SAS Ireland to further reduce their fuel consumption. There is an important pressure on airlines to increase profitability while reducing their carbon impact. By using SkyBreathe®, our customers reduce their first cost driver by 2 to 5%, while allowing them to become a leader in environmental excellence” explains Alexandre Feray, CEO of OpenAirlines.

SAS Ireland joins the large community of airlines adopting SkyBreathe® to improve their fuel efficiency, including Norwegian, Malaysia Airlines, Transavia and Atlas Air.

Bob is a member of the Sales team with responsibility for ensuring airlines within the USA are familiar with the skybook suite of software products. He helps airlines to understand how skybook can improve workflows within airline operations.

With a passion and enthusiasm for aviation, Bob joined Bytron with 20 years experience within the industry complimented by his extensive knowledge of technology. Bob has vast experience with airline operations software.

A resident of British Columbia, Canada, Bob prides himself on his knowledge of the aviation industry in the USA. He is highly knowledgeable about regulations and the use of Electronic Flight Bags and Dispatch software.

When he’s not at work, Bob enjoys riding his motorcycle, and building model trains. An enthusiastic Audiophile, Bob is often found reproducing high-fidelity sound of live musical performances.

Vistair Systems, a leader in the development of aviation management software, has released a major upgrade to its document management solution, DocuNet, with the introduction of its new dynamic forms builder. 

Available online and offline on all platforms including iOS, Windows and Android, DocuNet Forms has been developed to deliver an entire Form life-cycle within DocuNet, enabling users to create, customise and publish forms, in a matter of minutes.  

This new development delivers additional time and operational efficiencies to users and facilitates streamlined and efficient processes that enhance safety and improve communication between departments. 

As part of the upgrade, users can now benefit from a flexible and intuitive form builder that offers a rich feature-set to create forms across all operational needs, without the requirement for any technical expertise. 

DocuNet Forms can replicate data collection processes, whether currently conducted on paper or digitally. 

Currently being rolled out to our existing global client base including British Airways, easyjet, Qantas and Emirates, the feedback has been consistently positive.  

Additional features such as drag and drop functionality, branching logic and conditional sections, makes it easy and simple to create forms that are tailored specifically to operational needs. Of importance, there is the additional ability to demonstrate a real time audit trail to ensure all procedures are transparent and auditable 

David Hedley, CTO at Vistair comments: “The functionality of our DocuNet technology continues to advance at a rapid pace. Innovation and developments are key, and we are driven by both customer and industry requirements which ensures that the system is continually refined to perfectly meet operational needs. This latest development allows airlines to streamline data collection processes with ease to drive digital transformation even further”.  

KARACHI, PAKISTAN: Pakistani start-up, K2 Airways, has signed an agreement for Rusada’s MRO and Flight Operations software, ENVISION.

K2 Airways will begin scheduled passenger flights later this year from its base at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. It will serve numerous destinations across Pakistan including Islamabad, Skardu and Chitral. The airline also plans to fly to international destinations in the near future.

Rusada will begin implementing six of ENVISION’s modules immediately so that the system is fully live in time for the airline’s maiden flight. Modules selected include Fleet Management, Line Maintenance, Flight Operations and Human Resources.

Tariq Raja, Chief Executive Officer at K2 Airways said:

“We are looking to be as streamlined as possible when it comes to our operations, so we wanted to adopt one all-inclusive solution rather than several. This being said, there will always be the need to integrate with some form of external system, and ENVISION’s modern architecture makes this simple and painless, allowing our team to focus on other things.”   

Julian Stourton, CEO at Rusada said:

“We are seeing more and more the desire to move away from multiple disconnected systems and adopt a one-stop-solution. This is especially true with up-and-coming organizations such as K2 Airways. I am excited that we now get to play a significant part in their upcoming launch and future growth.”

A paperless flight deck, wireless on-board entertainment or the increasing level of digitalization in operations – none of this would be conceivable today without Lufthansa Systems.

Raunheim, January 23, 2020 – Lufthansa Systems is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The airline IT specialist is looking back proudly at the many milestones in its history of shaping the digitalization of the airline industry. In 1995, Lufthansa outsourced its IT department to its newly founded subsidiary, which has experienced a remarkable development in recent years. “We now employ around 2,400 people at our locations in 16 countries and, together with our start-up company zeroG, have established ourselves as one of the leading IT providers in the airline industry,” said Olivier Krueger, CEO of Lufthansa Systems. “Today, we offer our more than 350 customers worldwide a comprehensive range of IT solutions, many of which are market-leading.”

A rich and eventful history

Although digitalization was still in its infancy and the internet was still uncharted territory in the year the company was founded, Lufthansa Systems lived by its slogan “We’re into IT” from the very beginning. Thanks to its many years of experience within the Lufthansa Group, the company was able to keep its finger on the pulse of Europe’s most successful airline and acquire extensive technical expertise. This gave rise to an impressive product portfolio that covers many of an airline’s processes on the flight deck, in the cabin and on the ground. Lufthansa’s pioneering role soon enabled Lufthansa Systems to establish modern and efficiency-enhancing IT solutions across the entire aviation industry. LOT Polish Airlines was the first customer that saw Lufthansa Systems break into the external airline market. With many other airlines following suit, Lufthansa Systems’ innovative solutions gradually became established on the worldwide market. Before long, the IT specialist was able to support customers of all sizes and business with its solutions.

A pioneering role in the market

Offering groundbreaking innovations such as FlyNet, the first flying hotspot, which first got off the ground with Lufthansa in 2003, or accounting tools such as SIRAX, which significantly enhanced the efficiency of revenue accounting, Lufthansa Systems became an industry pioneer at an early stage. The development of the paperless flight deck was another game changer, as paper maps were gradually replaced by digital programs and modern apps that display weather, airspace and traffic information in real time. Meanwhile, a new era of inflight entertainment began with the first wireless solution, BoardConnect, which enabled passengers to access onboard entertainment on their own devices for the first time.

Lufthansa Systems is also one of the market’s leading providers in network planning, route optimization and flight navigation. The NetLine suite, for example, covers the entire process from network planning, flight planning and codeshares to crew management until the day of operations and provides the ideal basis for decision-making by connecting data in a smart way. Lido Flight 4D is a Lufthansa Systems solution that helps customers to optimize their flight routes and thus reduce flight times and fuel consumption. This in turn makes an important contribution to airlines’ environmental efficiency, as less fuel consumption means fewer carbon emissions. Airlines can also reduce their environmental footprint by eliminating all paper-based maps and documentation for navigation.

“Based on these developments and the experience it has gained along the way, Lufthansa Systems today is an important and reliable partner when it comes to digitalization and aviation expertise. Leveraging our strong portfolio of innovative initiatives, we will continue our tradition of shaping the future of digital aviation,” said Dr. Thomas Wittmann, CEO of Lufthansa Systems.

The Aviation Campus reflecting a strategic realignment

In 2015, the former Lufthansa Systems AG was realigned and the infrastructure part of the business was sold to IBM. By focusing on the airline business and an agile repositioning, the company is in a position to quickly and profitably apply its IT expertise for the benefit of its customers. With this in mind, Lufthansa Systems established the Aviation Campus and thus created an environment enabling digital innovation that promotes the exchange of ideas and the exploitation of synergies. Current projects and developments include migrating products to a cloud-based platform and supporting airlines in harmonizing their IT systems in operations. Applying the Total Mission Optimization (TMO) approach, Lufthansa Systems is further optimizing its market-leading Lido solutions for dispatchers and flight deck crews. This achieves a strong integration of functionality and data, which enables the airline operation center and the flight crew to collaborate in an even more effective way.

The smart use of data is one of the key success factors in the future of aviation. Using artificial intelligence, Lufthansa Systems and the start-up company zeroG are jointly working on projects to avoid delays in ground processes and are investigating ways to make the work of ops controllers easier.

In recent years, Lufthansa Systems has thus evolved into an important integration partner and consultant both within and outside the Lufthansa Group. The aim of the company’s growing consulting unit is to optimize everyday flight operations processes and design them in a way that makes them more profitable.

January 2020:  Conduce Group is delighted to announce that Titan Airways has chosen its eTechLog8 mobile software solution as an integral element to their ongoing progress to greater digitalisation of its processes and procedures.  eTechLog8 will completely replace the current paper-based aircraft technical logbooks including its deferred defect logbook and cabin logs.  The Conduce eTechLog8 application will also be fully integrated into Titan’s CAMO solution – Commsoft OASES – to enable real time aircraft status data to be available 24/7.

Dave Bunker, Engineering Director, Titan Airways commented that “This is an exciting step forward for Titan as it moves toward an all Airbus fleet and looks for greater digitisation of the Airline.  As an ACMI provider it is critical that the business has real time aircraft status data in order to be able to provide excellent operational service to our client base around the world.  Following a review of the market for ETL solutions Conduce Group was selected due to several factors, including a proven track record with many airworthiness authorities, total integration capability with back-office systems, and a unique and intuitive interface that will both minimise training requirements but also allow for a rapid implementation and acceptance of the solution.”

Conduce MD Paul Boyd commented: “We are extremely pleased to welcome Titan Airways to the growing community of airlines that have chosen eTechLog8.  The adoption of eTechLog8 allows an ACMI providers’ fleet to be totally “base” independent, operating anywhere in the world ensuring full visibility and integrity of the aircraft technical status.  Implementation will commence this month with full rollout planned for mid-2020.”

In what was our busiest year to date, 2019 was full of milestone achievements for Bytron and our team.

It kicked off with us welcoming new client Aeromexico onboard, and a stream of new business continued throughout the year. The volume of clients onboarding with us meant we had to look at expanding the existing team in order to keep up with demand, so in 2019 our team grew from 26 to 38 and included our first international employees in Canada.

We quickly found that the current Head Office space wasn’t big enough to support the growing team, therefore, Spring found us on the hunt for a second office space and in Autumn we officially opened our second UK office in the city of Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

As the team grew so too did our commitment to them. We believe our team are the biggest assets of the business and we are commited to ensuring they receive the most up to date industry training in order to grow and develop within their role. Last year not only did the company invest over £20,000 on staff training, we also worked hard to improve staff benefits, including an increase in holiday entitlement, and we also invested in improving the office environment.

Towards the end of the year, myself and the Senior Management Team were proud to announce that our IT Support team had hit our client Service Level Agreement (SLA) targets every month which was a fantastic achievment and one we strive to continue to deliver.

As a Living Wage employer, we we’re the proud recipients of a Living Wage Champions Award. Back in June, we attended the Living Wage Foundation awards ceremony and were thrilled to be recognised for our commitment to paying the voluntary living wage. Last year also saw our HR Manager join the Living Wage Tech Industry Board as she took the reins as Chairperson.

Our team also got involved in charity fundraising. Myself and two collegues took on a skydive to raise over £1,500 for local charity, Lindsey Lodge Hospice. If that wasn’t enough adrenalin for one year, I also joined several colleagues to participate in the Sheffield 10K race and raised over £700 for Diabetes UK.

On a personal level, I was thrilled to be accepted as a member of The Supper Club based in London. It is such an exciting opportunity to network with major companies such as Bet Fair, Capita and Carphone Warehouse and bring some of their business ideas to Bytron. Being a member of the London group has led to me getting involved in founding the Leeds Forum Group.

So, with a successful 2019 behind us, we’re looking ahead to 2020 with some significant growth plans in the pipeline.

We’ve listened to our customers requirements and developed our 2020 skybook road map; therefore, we will be allocating resources to deliver it by expanding our Development and QA teams in order to keep up with customer demand for our products.

To give clients peace of mind that we are meeting regulatory requirements to apply systems effectively to be of real benefit to customers, we plan to achieve ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 Accreditation Quality Management System standards.

The growth plan can’t be successfully delivered without our team which is why we will continue to invest in our employees. This year we will be focusing on mental health awareness within our workforce. Early January saw two staff members complete a two-day awareness course which will put us in a stronger position to support our team by ensuring they are happy and healthy at work.

We are in the process of making significant updates to our existing website with the aim of improving the online customer experience. Watch this space for news on the launch…

Finally, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish you all a happy, prosperous and safe 2020.

Shane

MD Bytron