Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG

Since 2000, Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG (MDF AG) has bundled the activities of three subsidiaries: Flughafen Leipzig/Halle GmbH, Flughafen Dresden GmbH and the ground handling service provider PortGround GmbH. MDF AG is a public company held by shareholders such as the Free State of Saxony, the State of Saxony-Anhalt and the cities of Leipzig, Dresden and Halle/Saale.

When we took over the management of the Central German airports, there were still two separate websites for the two airports. In order to present the offers of both airports to travellers together, we merged the sites. This also meant that the two independent solutions for researching flights had to be merged into a new flight search. The challenge was to present the relevant flight data for direct and transfer flights from both airports in a user-friendly search. As a result, the various flight connections were to be displayed in an interactive map as well as in a filterable list including flight details and a booking function.

The flight search is based on the extensive flight data of all flights that take off and land at both airports. Together with MDF AG, we checked the quality of potential data suppliers and decided in favour of the flight data expert OAG Aviation Worldwide Limited (OAG). They now provide us with flight data for direct and connecting flights with up to one transfer from or to the Central German airports. The data is collected weekly via FTP from OAG, indexed in TYPO3 and enriched with additional information, such as the long name of the airline. In total, ~90,000 raw data records are processed every week, which then result in ~1.7 million connections.

In contrast to a possible API connection, we are thus independent of the provider, prevent outages and enable high performance of the flight search for users, as the data is immediately available in the system.

The specially developed TYPO3 extensions then display the flight data in an interactive map including search function and results list. We have developed our own connection to the Google Maps API using JavaScript, which controls the design, display and interaction.

The plugin was customised for the Usercentrics cookie consent solution used to ensure that the flight search and, in particular, the Google map are integrated in compliance with data protection regulations. The Google map only loads when the user agrees to the marketing services.

The flight search now makes it easy for those with wanderlust to search for relevant flights. All destinations served by both airports are displayed on an interactive map the very first time the search is called up. The user can now select the desired destination directly on the map or via the search mask. They can also decide whether they only want to fly from Dresden or Leipzig/Halle. Narrowing down the desired travel time and the option of only displaying direct flights allows users to search for specific flights for their desired travel time. A period of approx. 11 months can be searched.

As a result, travellers receive a list of all possible flights including important information such as flight time, number of transfers and, of course, an option to book the flight. At the request of many users, the results list can be printed directly via a print button at the end of the flight search.

Of course, the entire flight search is also optimised for mobile devices, so as not to stand in the way of a leisurely flight search on the sofa.

Since the flight search went live, it has been continuously developed and expanded, for example, to display the total flight duration and transfer time. Planespotters in particular can now also look forward to the display of the aircraft type. After going live, the flight history was also visualised in the flight details to show users the flight, including stopovers and layovers, to help them choose their preferred flight.