University of Hamburg and Lufthansa announce that quantum algorithms for airport operations are ready for takeoff

Brief overview

• The Institute for Quantum Physics at the University of Hamburg and IT provider Lufthansa Industry Solutions are jointly developing quantum algorithms to optimize operations at airports.
• The team is collaborating to research algorithms to solve the “airport gate assignment problem” at the airport
• Essential quote: “With 5 available gates and one aircraft, there are only 5 assignment possibilities. In this case, the flight manager has an easy job. With 5 gates for 2 aircraft, there are 25 possibilities left. Airports, however, are usually larger. With 15 gates and 10 aircraft, there are over 570 billion possibilities.” — Dr. Joseph Doetsch

PRESS RELEASE — From basic research to everyday use: The Institute for Quantum Physics at the University of Hamburg and IT provider Lufthansa Industry Solutions are jointly developing quantum algorithms to optimize airport operations. The aim of the collaboration is to solve the “gate allocation problem” at airports worldwide.

The traveling salesman problem is familiar to many people from mathematics: the more stops there are, the harder it becomes to find the best routes. Thanks to the exponential growth in available routes, the problem is even more serious than it seems at first glance. The same principle applies to the “gate assignment problem,” which involves directing arriving planes to available gates.

A calculation helps to understand the scale of the problem: “With 5 available gates and one aircraft, there are only 5 assignment possibilities. In this case, the flight manager has an easy task. With 5 gates for 2 aircraft, there are 25 possibilities left. However, airports are usually larger. With 15 gates and 10 aircraft, there are more than 570 billion possibilities,” explains Dr. Joseph Doetsch, Head of Quantum Computing at Lufthansa Industry Solutions (LHIND).

Classical computers quickly reach their limits due to the complexity of the calculations. For reasons of time management and efficiency, the best possible dispatch of aircraft is essential for passengers and airlines. “Until now, algorithms for combinatorial optimization problems were very difficult to scale, so that the computation times increased disproportionately to the problem size. This makes real-time solving impossible, even for supercomputers, for many practical applications in industry. Instead, approximate solutions are, from a mathematical point of view, often the only method used,” says Professor Deiter Jaksch, a quantum physicist at the University of Hamburg.

First of its kind in the world

To solve this problem more efficiently than in the past, the University of Hamburg and Lufthansa Industry Solutions have launched a joint project. “We are working on a scalable quantum algorithm that takes into account all realistic boundary conditions at airports. This would make us the first in the world to not use conventional computers to solve the problem of gate allocation at airports, but rather quantum computers, which should be much better suited to this task,” explains Jaksch.

The project partners are leaders in their respective fields. The IQP at the University of Hamburg has built an outstanding international reputation for developing more efficient quantum algorithms. As a subsidiary of Lufthansa, LHIND is very familiar with the needs of airlines and airports and has been working intensively on quantum computing for years.

Since quantum software is adapted to the quantum computer architecture, the development of the hardware must also be taken into account. The first commercially usable quantum computers are now being introduced to the market. “Our airport gate allocation solution is already available and airports can use it for planning and management in real time. Currently, it is based on classical computers and in the coming years it will be further improved through the use of quantum computers. We benefit from the city’s large talent pool and Hamburg’s strong funding culture,” says Doetsch.

The project will be funded over a period of 3 years within the framework of the Quantum Computing Initiative of the IFB Hamburg. The aim is to create, establish and strengthen Hamburg as a center for quantum computing.

The University of Hamburg and the Technical University of Hamburg (TUHH) are already collaborating in the Hamburg Quantum Computing School, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. LHIND is also a founding member of Hamburg Quantum Innovation Capital (hqic), a central cross-sector contact, coordinator and ecosystem builder for quantum technologies.