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British Airways trials robots to guide passengers through the airport

British Airways has announced that from this year it will trial AI-powered autonomous robots at its home at Heathrow Terminal 5 to help customers navigate through the airport, freeing up the airlines’ hosts to help customers with more complex queries.

The cutting-edge robots from tech company BotsAndUs are programmed to interact with passengers  in multiple different languages using the latest translation technology to answer thousands of questions, including real-time flight information.


British Airways has announced it will trial state-of-the-art, fully autonomous robots in 2020.

Additionally, using geo-location technology and dozens of advanced sensors to constantly monitor a 360˚radius, the robots will move around the airport terminal freely and safely, escorting customers to specific locations.

To complement its investment in technology and automation, last year British Airways launched a multi-million pound investment in enhanced training for colleagues as part of its First Contact Resolution Programme at Heathrow. The programme empowers customer service agents to use their expertise, initiative and judgement to solve customer queries on the spot using a suite of specialised apps on iPads.

Ricardo Vidal, British Airways’ Head of Innovation, says the combination of automation and personalised customer service will define the airport of the future:

We are always looking for new and innovative ways to use automation to help our customers enjoy a faster and smoother journey through the airport and beyond. These smart robots are the latest innovation allowing us to free up our people to deal with immediate issues and offer that one-on-one service we know our customers appreciate. In the future, I envisage a fleet of robots working side-by-side with our people offering a truly seamless travel experience.

Andrei Danescu, Founder of BotsAndUs, added:

We are very excited to partner with British Airways. The trial will pave the way for other new and interesting services we can provide to improve the customer journey as we work together to re-imagine the airport experience.

Contact your GTM Account Manager next time you need to fly on British Airways.

British Airways is the first UK airline to use biometric technology to board flights from the US

More than 250,000 British Airways customers have experienced a glimpse of the journey of the future by using their face as their identity to board a flight from the US in the last 18 months.

The introduction of new biometric facial recognition technology has transformed the airport experience for customers travelling from Orlando, Los Angeles and New York, JFK by streamlining the boarding process and halving the amount of time it takes to board an aircraft. 

The technology means that customers no longer need to present their passport or boarding pass at the departure gate – only when they check in and go through Security. Instead travellers simply look into a camera prior to boarding, wait for their biometric data to be verified and then walk onto the aircraft.

The commitment to this technology is part of the airline’s £6.5bn investment for customers. British Airways was the first UK airline to use biometric technology to board flights from the US, working in close partnership with the US Customs and Border Protection to implement the technology, which has enabled the airline to hugely speed up its boarding process.

At Orlando, British Airways is boarding almost 240 customers in 10 minutes – becoming the first carrier to set up permanent facial recognition gates at the airport.

British Airways was also the first UK airline to use the technology on UK domestic flights. More than 3,000,000 customers have boarded an aircraft this way – with all domestic departures from Heathrow Terminal 5 now boarded biometrically.

For international flights, self-service boarding gates have now been installed at the terminal, allowing customers to scan their own boarding cards to gain access to their flight. It’s the first step towards biometric boarding on international flights from the UK.

Raoul Cooper, British Airways’ Senior Digital Design Manager, said:

We are continuing to pioneer the use of technology and automation to enhance the airport experience and ensure that our customers’ flights depart on time.

The airport of the future will be built upon biometric technology, from check-in and baggage drops to security checks and boarding.

These days, automation is a part of everyday life, as is biometric technology via our mobile phones.

We’re working with our technology partners and the US government to explore how we can use this technology in new and innovative ways to give our customers the stress-free, easy airport experience they tell us they want, while ensuring security is always our top priority.

Dinosaur lands at Heathrow

A 13 metre skeleton of a 155 million year old diplodocus will be exhibited from the first week of April, before being sold by the French auction house Aguttes for an expected £2million.

Heathrow will see over 4.5million passengers travelling through the airport over Easter and Terminal 5 passengers will have the chance to step back in time to experience this historical figure. 

The unique skeleton shows significant impressions of the skin of the dinosaur, never before discovered on this dinosaur type, with a new scientific study indicating the skeleton is from a new species and is a cousin of the diplodocus.

Ross Baker, Chief Commercial Officer at Heathrow said,

What a sizeable welcome for customers travelling this Easter! We’re excited to see the ‘roar-some’ reaction from our passengers, as they encounter this completely unique specimen before heading on their travels with loved ones.

Archaeologist and special adviser to Aguttes Auction house, Eric Mickeler said,

This original skeleton is remarkable. It is currently the only diplodocus in the world with the imprint of its skin and therefore a world first.

The sheer size of dinosaurs awes people, they are immense, and that is part of their fascination for collectors.  Buyers look for big impressive aesthetically attractive and well-preserved examples. It is also a case of supply and demand. There are very few found and so prices grow because there is a strong demand for them.

Scott Pawley, Managing Director of Global Travel Management said,

Heathrow is the most popular international departure airport for our business travellers and I am sure they will welcome the opportunity to see a monster up close and personal.

We help thousands of passengers a day with their journeys to, from and through the airport. Although we typically only deal with humans.

If a diplodocus wanted to book a flight, we would recommend one of our competitors who usually have skeleton staff and are a bit like dinosaurs.

Contact your GTM Account Manager the next time you need to fly from Heathrow Airport.

Plaza Premium Opens Heathrow T5 Lounge.

Plaza Premium Lounge, an airport services company headquartered in Hong Kong, has opened a new lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5.

The new lounge, which is located on Level 2 of the departures area next to gate A7, will be welcome news for those flying economy, or without the required tier status to access BA’s lounges in T5.

The new lounge has a location overlooking the runway, and is open to all travellers for payment of a fee starting from £40 for two hours. The 465m2 lounge is Plaza Premium’s sixth at Heathrow, and offers hot and cold food, a fully serviced bar, high speed Wi-fi, shower facilities and newspapers and magazines. The opening hours are 05:00 – 22:00 daily.

Plaza Premium also intends to open a, 83-bedroom Aerotel hotel in Terminal 3 next year. The group manages over 150 lounges worldwide in 37 locations.