We are proud to announce that our master’s student, Timo Kaiser, has been awarded second prize in the Heureka Student Award 2025 for his outstanding thesis on sustainable airline network optimization at the Chair of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (Prof. Stefan Minner).

The thesis, “Reducing the Climate Impact of Airline Networks: A Two-Stage Stochastic Programming Approach,” explores how airline networks can be optimized to significantly reduce their climate impact while maintaining profitability under uncertain demand conditions. 

Supervised by Nicolas Kuttruff, the research develops an advanced optimization model that integrates fleet composition, passenger routing, and aircraft assignment decisions. The work demonstrates measurable potential for reducing aviation-related climate effects through smarter network and fleet planning. 

The thesis was conducted in close cooperation with Lufthansa, ensuring strong practical relevance and industry impact.

We warmly congratulate Timo Kaiser on this achievement and thank all partners for their excellent collaboration.

Photo by Mareike Rammelt