Virgin Blue's new international airline chooses market-leading IT solutions
Virgin Blue's new long-haul airline, "V Australia", successfully launched flight operations in February with industry-leading navigation products from aviation IT specialist Lufthansa Systems. The airline will use Lido RouteManual navigation charts for its air and ground navigation purposes. The carrier has also chosen the Lido FMS Navigation Database Service for the central flight management of its growing fleet. In addition, V Australia opted for Lido eAPM, the electronic aircraft performance monitoring solution. The continuous monitoring of the individual performance parameters of each aircraft enables the airline to save fuel and increase revenues due to a higher cargo capacity.
Scott Swift, Executive General Manager V Australia, commented on the airline's decision, "We have chosen a provider for our navigation and performance monitoring requirements whose products have a proven track record in the industry."
The value of Lido RouteManual lies in the easy legibility and the clear structure of the individual charts. Lido RouteManual and its electronic version Lido eRouteManual feature exactly the same structure and color-coding. Implementing the electronic route manuals is, therefore, especially simple. Lido eRouteManual also provides a seamless world route map which can be centered around the current position of the aircraft.
The Lido FMS database contains all important route information including navigation points, radio beacons, altitude and airport data. It is continuously updated and organized. Every 28 days, V Australia will receive the fresh database input according to its aircraft types and routes in order to feed it into the flight management system. Even before the inaugural flight, Lido FMS was used on the airline's Boeing 777 simulator to train pilots.
Lido eAPM is a web-based tool for the determination of in-flight performance levels of an aircraft. It especially monitors its propulsion and flight control efficiency. Due to the sophisticated monitoring of the actual fuel consumption, the airline may even qualify for a reduction of the extra fuel required for normal operations if cleared by the authorities. This procedure saves weight and, in turn, reduces consumption further.
For Lufthansa Systems the contract with V Australia is another milestone of its growing presence in Asia and the Pacific. "Our customers in the region include passenger and cargo airlines, regional and long-haul carriers, full-service and low-cost operators. V Australia will be a valuable part of our customer base as it underlines the advantages of our solutions for any kind of carrier. This is especially true as the envisaged rapid increase in their fleet and network requires IT solutions that flexibly grow with them," said Norbert Müller, Senior Vice President Sales Asia/Pacific at Lufthansa Systems.