GOTEBORG, Sweden, Aug. 24, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Carmen Systems AB announces that Virgin Atlantic Airways, Britain's second largest airline serving 22 destinations worldwide, has signed a long-term agreement for the use of Carmen's Crew Planning solutions for all 3,800 crew. The agreement is worth more than EUR 3 million.
According to Matthew Lee, Director Flight Operations at Virgin Atlantic, the simulation capabilities through the use of Carmen's optimization solutions and proprietary rule language, Carmen Rave, will help Virgin Atlantic to control costs in an entirely new way through greater flexibility and increased efficiency in the planning process.
"With Carmen Rave we will now be able to run accurate rostering simulations. Maintaining a flexible and reliable planning process is crucial especially given the rapid growth of Virgin Atlantic. Carmen's sophisticated optimization engine will allow us to better match our flying demand against crew resourcing levels at the same time optimizing our crew's lifestyle requests. Carmen's ability to answer 'what if' scenarios in Operations is unbeatable in the industry, this together with rostering flexibility are the primary reasons for our investment in their planning solutions."
Carmen Systems President and CEO, Per Noren said, "We warmly welcome Virgin Atlantic as a client and look forward to building a successful cooperation to increase the productivity, robustness and quality of their operation."
Virgin Atlantic plans to have the new system in production for all crew by March 2005.
For Additional Information Contact:
Per Noren, President & CEO Odinsgatan 9
+46 31 720 81 01 SE-411 03 Goteborg
per.noren@carmensystems.com Sweden
E-mail: carmen@carmensystems.com
Catherine Hines, Public Affairs Web: www.carmensystems.com
+46 31 722 62 02
catherine.hines@carmensystems.com
Virgin Atlantic Airways: Since it was founded in 1984, Virgin Atlantic Airways has become Britain's second largest carrier serving the world's major cities. Now based at both London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports, it operates long haul services to twenty two destinations world-wide as far apart as Las Vegas and Shanghai. Virgin Atlantic has enjoyed huge popularity, winning top business, consumer and trade awards from around the world. The airline has pioneered a range of innovations setting new standards of service, which its competitors have subsequently sought to follow. Despite Virgin Atlantic's growth the service still remains customer driven with an emphasis on value for money, quality, fun and innovation. Carmen Systems AB supplies integrated planning and decision-support solutions for clients found primarily in the airline and railway industry. Clients include Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Mexicana, Northwest Airlines, Philippine Airlines, SAS, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Deutsche Bahn and SJ, Green Cargo. Carmen Systems is a rapidly expanding organization with 190 employees from 26 countries. Carmen Systems participates in joint research and software development at some of the world's leading universities. Company headquarters is in Goteborg, Sweden and features the largest R&D department in the business.
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