British Airways to trial AI-powered robots at London Heathrow

British Airways will trial AI-powered autonomous robots at London Heathrow Terminal 5 next year.

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

Using geo-location technology and dozens of advanced sensors to constantly monitor a 360˚ radius, the robot will move around the airport terminal freely, escorting customers to specific locations such as the airline’s dedicated Special Assistance and Family Check-In zones.

British Airways Head of Innovation Ricardo Vidal said, “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.”This year, British Airways has also installed 80 automated check-in machines and 80 advanced automated bag-drop machines at Heathrow Terminal 5. The airline has also completed its roll-out of self-boarding technology across every international gate at Heathrow Terminal 5, leading to fewer flight delays. The gates are the first step towards customers being able to biometrically board international flights from the UK. The airline originally pioneered the use of biometric self-boarding gates on flights within the UK from Heathrow and more than 3.5 million customers have now boarded their flights this way.

The airline also introduced biometric facial recognition technology on flights to London from Orlando, Los Angeles and New York, JFK transforming the airport experience and halving the amount of time it takes to board an aircraft.