Gatwick Airport has released the ‘Gatwick Chatbot’ on Facebook Messenger to provide passengers with easy access to information before and during their trip.
The automated language based messaging service provides passengers with flight information, flight specific notifications, and information on airport shops, restaurants and other facilities.
For instance, passengers can simply type their destination, select their flight from a list and then receive real-time updates on the status of that flight.
Those looking for somewhere to grab something to eat before their flight can use the chatbot to find a suitable restaurant. By simply asking “Which restaurants have vegetarian options?”, for example, users are presented with a list of options.
At the moment, the chatbot understands and answers about 80% of the questions it receives. The airport expects this to increase to around 95% in a year’s time, once it has had an opportunity to learn from its interactions with users.
Plans are also in place to cover additional channels such as WhatsApp and Apple Business Messenger in the future to ensure that passengers can get answers to their questions on their preferred chat platform.
