UFIS Airport Solutions

In the current economic climate airlines are taking steps to cut costs in all areas - and this includes ground handling and airport charges. One way an airport can compete is not only to offer cost-effective services but also to provide a high level of service “on time” and at the quality airlines require. With UFIS Airport Solutions’ (UFIS-AS) Universal Flight Information System (UFIS®) as the information hub in a centralized operation center, airports and handling agents have cut costs and improved efficiency and now offer a better service to their customers - the airlines and the passengers.

The foundation for higher efficiency is not just a matter of introducing new IT technology. The first task is to look at the current processes and to see how these can be made more efficient and effective with the introduction of IT systems. In this initial analysis phase, UFIS-AS’s operational experts usually have to deal with issues such as:

Absence of centralized information provider – each department gathers schedule and operational information themselves 

• Lack of interdepartmental coordination 
• Information not current 
• Costly manpower planning

Recommendations how these processes can be reflected in the IT system or how minor changes to these processes, combined with the IT system, could improve efficiency are submitted to the customer for discussion and approval.

Once the processes have been defined, interfaces, software modules and user interfaces are configured to reflect these processes. Training is of utmost importance. If users don’t know how to operate the system properly, there won’t be any increase in efficiency.

Typically, UFIS-AS’s operational experts train a small group of alpha-users who will then be able to train a wider group of users. This keeps the cost down for the customer and ensures that real know-how transfer takes place.

Some of the benefits gained from an integrated operations center are:

• centralized data collection and management, eliminating the duplication of effort across the various operational departments 
• savings on manpower cost through better planning and coordination 
• proactive monitoring that enables activities to be quickly adjusted to match changes in the schedules 
• closer cooperation and teamwork 
• a single point of contact 
• more accurate invoicing for services provided to airlines

The Universal Flight Information System UFIS®
is a sophisticated traffic and resource planning and management system. UFIS® offers many powerful system solutions where in-formation systems are required. Integration is one of its strengths offering its own middleware for interfacing with other systems or making use of standard middleware products.