03 March 2020: Lufthansa Technik used its own private wireless 5G network for two innovation projects. The first project was in the field of VIP completion and the second was engine overhaul. Both these projects had a very high demand for bandwidth for wireless data transmission.
"Continuous innovation is part of our corporate DNA, and this is what drives us to constantly try out new approaches," explained Soeren Stark, Member of Lufthansa Technik's Executive Board, responsible for Technical Operations, Logistics and IT. "The first two application cases already impressively demonstrate the valuable contribution 5G technology can make to the aviation industry. It will also pave the way for numerous new innovations at Lufthansa Technik that will benefit our company, our employees and also our customers".
"The German economy needs 5G. We have 5G. As a partner in all things 5G, we want to help our industry to maintain its leading position into the future. Those who build on new technology today will be one step ahead tomorrow," said Hannes Ametsreiter, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Deutschland. "We support our partners in bringing 5G to their daily business as soon as possible. To the factories, to the business parks and now even to aircraft hangars. With individual campus networks perfectly tailored to the needs of our partners."
Kathrin Buvac, President of Nokia Enterprise, said: "This application captures the essential value of fast, secure 5G private wireless networking to help improve operational efficiency, productivity and service. It highlights the potential for new ways of working that benefit not only our customers, but also the markets they serve."
Lufthansa Technik is one of the first companies in Germany to use its own private wireless network to operate a fully-fledged standalone 5G network based on the new standard (3GPP Release 16) in an industrial environment.
For testing the technology, Lufthansa Technik has set up two separate private 5G networks at its Hamburg base, with different technology and network providers (Vodafone and Nokia). Instead of extending publicly available mobile networks to the Lufthansa base, a completely independent infrastructure has been installed, with its own antennas and servers that can only be accessed by Lufthansa Technik. Therefore, "LH-Technik" appears as the network operator in the display of the mobile devices used.
The new 5G network technology will benefit two innovation projects, with which the company is testing new technologies in the areas of engine overhaul and VIP completion. One project uses augmented reality to virtually visualize the 3D design data of the planned cabin interior in empty aircraft fuselages. By means of live data transmission, the technicians on site always have the opportunity to check the current position of all planned components and, additionally, to coordinate any necessary changes with the developers through collaborative video functions.