Lufthansa Systems today announced that it will unveil its new cGroup product line at the Future Travel Experience (FTE) Global 2015 in Las Vegas. At its booth at the show, the aviation IT specialist will demonstrate three new IT solutions which aim to support airlines working with CUTE systems. Over 650 trade visitors and experts from all over the world will attend the FTE Global between September 9 and 11 to find out about and discuss the latest developments in the field of passenger and baggage processes.
CUTE stands for Common Use Terminal Equipment. This software solution for airport operators enables airlines to make common use of existing airport IT infrastructures. In other words, they can all use the same hardware to handle passenger and flight processing via their own servers. There are currently dozens of versions of CUTE systems in use for passenger and baggage check-in all over the world. This diversity makes it difficult for airlines to use interfaces efficiently.
Lufthansa Systems has for many years offered airlines a service covering all aspects of CUTE – including setting up applications or carrying out updates and maintenance. With cGroup, this service has now been enhanced with the addition of three IT solutions. “Most airlines use CUTE systems for their ground handling. When these processes are disrupted, however, it can result in air traffic delays, and these can prove very costly. This is precisely where our cGroup products come in, helping airlines to deploy their CUTE systems more efficiently and monitor them reliably worldwide,” says Björn Steinbrecher, Head of CUTE Integration & Access Products at Lufthansa Systems.
cGroup comprises three products: cFront, cTraffic and cChart. cFront acts as an adapter between the various airport-based CUTE systems and the airline’s own applications.
The software offers easy, standardized access to an airline’s IT systems and supports all leading CUTE platforms as well as the new CUPPS (Common Use Passenger Processing Systems) standards.
cFront is supplemented by two monitoring tools: cTraffic is an integrated platform that monitors all of an airline’s business processes at all of its airports. This overview of all common-use airport platforms helps to optimize passenger handling and reduce downtime. The cChart monitoring tool is aimed at senior management. It conveys at a glance the current status of all CUTE platforms and provides immediate warning of any cancellations or disruptions.
Each year, numerous executives from the travel industry – from airlines and airport operators to ground handling specialists and government bodies – get together at FTE Global. In addition to the trade fair, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary, there are interactive forums on topics such as cooperation, connectivity and mobile and portable technology.
