Technology boost for aviation industry in Africa

Technology boost for aviation industry in Africa

Innovative technology is being used across the board, and the aviation industry is no different. Here, we look at some of the projects that have been undertaken in the sector.

NetLine/Sched and ProfitLine/Price solutions are now in use

Lufthansa Systems has announced that the national carrier of the Republic of Rwanda is now using the NetLine/Sched and ProfitLine/Price solutions.

These products will optimise 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 optimise 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 optimising 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 supports this highly complex process, and, 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 optimise 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,” said Marco Cesa, Vice President Regional Management EMEA at Lufthansa Systems.

“I am certain that both products will make a significant contribution to the airline’s expansion plans.”

Improving flight planning across South African airports

Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), which owns and operates a network of nine airports across South Africa, has selected BECONTRA Scenario Planning, a subsidiary of Leidos, to help optimise its airline routes and improve flight planning across its network. The agreement will support route forecasting by enabling ACSA to assess the feasibility of new and improved routes, helping to attract more airlines to ACSA’s airports and build the South African economy.

ACSA will leverage BECONTRA’s Suite B Route Development module that is designed to support aviation business development teams to assess market sizes, monitor passenger flows and traffic potential. The technology delivers rapid, comprehensive and reliable scenarios supporting operational and strategic decision-making.

ACSA was formed in 1993 as a public company and was partially privatised in 1998. The group owns and operates nine airports, including the three main international gateways of O.R. Tambo International, Cape Town International and King Shaka International Airports.

Matome Ramokgobedi, Group Manager, Traffic Development at Airports Company South Africa said: “The tool will aid the traffic development function to provide robust proposals for new route opportunities and thereby support the unit to achieve its organisational targets of improving connectivity to the regions we serve and contribute to increasing traffic through the airports we operate and serve.”

Thorsten Kolbinger, Managing Director of BEONTRA, added:  “We continue to expand our global footprint of more than 40 customers with ACSA. Establishing an African presence for BEONTRA will enable us to bring our unique capabilities in route development and scenario planning to the rest of the continent.”

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