Lufthansa Technik expands 5G campus network
More than two years ago, Lufthansa Technik was one of the first industrial companies in Germany to start setting up so-called campus networks based on the latest mobile communications standard 5G. Based on the excellent experience in the engine services business unit, the 5G network there has now been extended to a second overhaul workshop. As a result, additional customers can now witness their engine layovers remotely via the AVIATAR platform. Any interference with flight operations, which was recently the subject of controversy in the United States, can be ruled out at the Hamburg base. Lufthansa Technik had already been operating its own 5G campus network since 2020. At that time, it was used for the first time in a Hamburg workshop for aircraft engines, where the CFM56 and V2500 types are overhauled. Here, 5G made it possible to reliably use high-resolution video streams in the visual inspection of engine parts. In times of massive travel restrictions during the Corona crisis, this so-called “Virtual Table Inspection” (VTI) quickly advanced from a test project to a business-critical infrastructure, because customers no longer had to travel to Hamburg to have their engine parts inspected. As this offering quickly became indispensable in daily operations, Lufthansa Technik fully integrated the 5G-powered VTI into its AVIATAR Digital Operations Suite in 2021. Recently, the network and services have now been extended to the second engine shop where LEAP and CF6-80 engines are overhauled. The latter’s operators can now also interact remotely with the mechanics on-site in Hamburg, saving time and money while making important repair decisions for their engines. As such decisions often involve six-digit figures, the high video resolution and the stable, reliable and confidential connection to the customer at all times provided by 5G are essential for this offering.
