Lufthansa Systems today announced that SunExpress has opted for the use of additional modules from its NetLine/Crew crew management solution. The airline recently signed an agreement for the additional modules, which optimize the processes for overall pairing and the generation of individual duty rosters. The resulting rosters are cost-efficient and employee-friendly at the same time. SunExpress also renewed the basic NetLine contract originally signed in 2000 for another five years.

“NetLine/Crew has proven itself in our daily operations. It covers all aspects of crew planning, and since it can easily adapt to our growing fleet and crew, it supports our expansion strategy as well,” explained Ali Güler, CIO at SunExpress. In addition to NetLine/Crew, the airline is using other IT solutions from Lufthansa Systems, including Lido/Flight for flight planning, Lido/FMS data, the Lido/RouteManual navigation charts as well as NetLine/Sched for schedule management and NetLine/Ops for operations control.

“Crew costs are one of an airline’s largest areas of expenditure, but there is also great potential for increasing efficiency here,” said Marco Cesa, Senior Vice President Sales EMEA at Lufthansa Systems. “The NetLine/Crew optimizers enable airlines to plan as well as control the assignment of their pilots and flight attendants in a way that results in greater crew satisfaction. They make the best use of available resources and therefore make significant cost reductions possible.”

A number of legal and contractual aspects must be taken into account when planning crew rosters. NetLine/Crew supports all phases of crew management, from pairing, rostering and crew tracking, to post-flight reports and statistics. The optimization modules will further increase the economic benefits of the solution for SunExpress. Stable, cost-efficient pairings can be developed with NetLine/Crew Pairing xOPT. NetLine/Crew Pairing xOPT generates efficient plans for crew pairings and duty periods using the latest optimization technology which automates many important processes. NetLine/Crew Preferences xOPT handles roster planning for each employee, and it increases crew satisfaction by taking each crew member’s preferred destinations and duty times into account.

SunExpress is a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. It is the market leader for charter flights between Germany and Turkey and one of the largest private operators of scheduled flights from Europe to Turkey. With its fleet of 25 aircraft, the airline serves to more than 50 destinations from its bases in Antalya, İzmir and İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen. It carries about 7 million passengers per year. As part of its continued expansion strategy, the airline recently announced the foundation of a subsidiary based in Germany and operating to destinations across Southern Europe.

Note to editors:

Lufthansa Systems provides consulting and IT services for selected industries and has a leading position in the global aviation industry. The wholly-owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group offers its customers the entire range of IT-services, including consulting, development and implementation of industry solutions as well as operations. At its headquarters in Kelsterbach near Frankfurt/Main, Germany, the company operates one of the most modern data centers in Europe. Lufthansa Systems has offices in Germany and 14 other countries and employs about 3,000 people. In business year 2009, Lufthansa Systems recorded revenues of EUR 605 million. For more details, see www.LHsystems.com.

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Lufthansa Systems AG
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