Lufthansa Group, Honeywell and Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on the development of a runway safety system for Lufthansa’s fleet combining the Airbus Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS) and Honeywell’s SmartLanding system.

ROPS is an alerting system Airbus developed to assist flight crews in preventing runway overruns. Offered by NavBlue, the manufacturer’s new flight operations and air traffic management subsidiary, the system is operating on some 430 aircraft, including A320, A330, A350 and A380 airliners. It has been selected by the operators of 1,500 aircraft still to be delivered.

SmartLanding is a software enhancement to Honeywell's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System, which is installed on 30,000 airline and corporate aircraft. The system reduces the risk of runway excursion by alerting pilots if the aircraft is approaching the runway too high, too fast or is not configured properly for landing.

“This cooperation aims to set the highest standard in runway safety by combining the strengths of these two innovative and leading technologies and by making them available for a maximum number of aircraft types,” the parties announced on July 20.