Travel and hospitality / Airport ground handling
Lufthansa and Fraport: Tracking aircraft ground handling
- Company
- Lufthansa and Fraport
- Country
- Germany
- Adoption stage
- Limited operation
- Source published
- In use from
- Date basis
- The date the source was published. It can differ from the date adoption started.
- How the source was checked
- Read the full source text
The work problem
Aircraft ground handling packs many tasks into a short window, from docking the boarding bridge to loading baggage and refuelling. Manuel van Esch, head of zeroG, said an aircraft earns no money while it is on the ground, and yet the most complex process happens right there under time pressure. The volume and quality of handling information was not enough to see each step clearly.
Technology and data
Lufthansa and Fraport AG signed an agreement to refine aircraft handling at Frankfurt Airport and introduced seer, a camera based computer vision solution built by the Lufthansa subsidiary zeroG. Stand cameras record each step, such as docking the boarding bridge, loading baggage and refuelling. AI automatically timestamps each step. These records gather in one central database so every participant sees the same values. zeroG developed the AI and computer vision in seer and fitted it to existing procedures to match the needs of the airline and the airport. Fraport Chief Executive Officer Stefan Schulte said that with greater data transparency, staff and partners see each step more precisely and align the next task.
Results
Development and the pilot phase began in 2023. From February to May 2024 Lufthansa and Fraport tested the system at some stands at Frankfurt Airport. At the time of the announcement seer was in use at five stands. The two companies said they will raise that to 20 by the end of the third quarter this year, and then extend it across the airport in stages. Lufthansa Airlines Chief Executive Officer Jens Ritter said transparent ground handling further improves punctuality and service quality.
Limits and open questions
The source gives no figure for how much punctuality actually improved. Nor does it set a date for completing the extension across the airport.
Sources
- AI-supported ground processes: Lufthansa, Fraport, and zeroG drive innovation at Frankfurt Airportnewsroom.lufthansagroup.com, Accessed
Compiled from public sources. These are not results from ATF Works customers.