Emirates seeks to cut delays at Dubai airport with new application

Dubai airline Emirates is hoping to reduce delays associated with aircraft turnaround through the use of a new application built in-house called the Hub Monitor.

The application allows Emirates’ operational staff in Dubai to share and monitor real time information on the various activities that are carried out to prepare an aircraft for departure.

Through its monitoring and proactive alerting system, the application will help avoid delays and improve on-time performance, a statement said.

Emirates currently operates a fleet of 270 all wide-body fleet of Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft.

Every day around 255 of the airline’s flights depart from Dubai with the duration ranging from less than an hour to over 17 hours. The planes arriving in Dubai then need to be turned around and prepared for their next departure.

It currently takes the airline about 105 minutes to turnaround the jumbo A380 jet and about 90 minutes to prepare the Boeing 777 aircraft for departure in Dubai.

There are a number of activities involved in the aircraft turnaround process. Some of these include a complete cleaning of aircraft interiors, water and toilet servicing, flight catering and loading meals for passengers, servicing the aircraft Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), refuelling the aircraft, maintenance checks, and loading passenger luggage and cargo.

A delay in any one of these activities can have a cumulative impact on operations, Emirates explained in a statement.

Using the new Hub Monitor, cross-functional teams from departments including Engineering, Network Control, Airport Services, Flight Operations, and dnata Operations can keep track of the turnaround activities on a real time basis.

It integrates data coming in from a number of internal platforms and real-time aircraft downlinks. It then provides the consolidated data through a single view interface to relevant internal stakeholders. Hub Monitor is also mobile enabled, meaning staff deployed on the aircraft, ramp and in other remote areas can also easily access the information.

The application also sends alerts to operational staff when there is a delay or deviation to any activity against a pre-set precision timing schedule.

“These pre-emptive alerts allow Emirates’ teams to identify and resolve the root cause of any potential delays,” the statement said.

The application provides information on all Emirates’ aircraft in Dubai.

Initial results since the application was deployed in August indicate that Hub Monitor has the potential to bring about a significant delay reduction at Emirates’ Dubai hub every year, the statement added.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates EVP and COO said: “Our Operations team in coordination with IT have led the development of the hub monitoring system in a record time of five months, building on an existing solution that was already developed by Emirates Engineering.

“The team examining the various functions of Hub Monitor in real time are working to roll out further modules and the next module will be implemented later this month.”