\Another summer, another test of patience for UK travellers. The combination of the EU’s upcoming Entry/Exit System and unresolved post-Brexit staffing shortages is setting the stage for long queues at borders, delayed departures, last-minute cancellations and, inevitably, frustrated passengers pacing terminals with coffee cups gone cold. The pressure isn’t theoretical anymore; it’s already baked into peak-season forecasts, and travel brands know that once things start slipping, recovery is hard to contain.
Against this backdrop, Infobip is pushing a clear message to the industry: reactive customer service is no longer enough. What’s needed now is agentic AI-driven engagement that can anticipate disruption, communicate early, and quietly absorb some of the chaos before it spills over into physical queues and overwhelmed staff. The idea is simple on the surface—get the right information to passengers at the right moment—but the execution leans heavily on automation, orchestration, and messaging channels people already use without thinking twice.
Intelligent messaging is becoming a kind of shock absorber for the system. Instead of relying on airport announcements or frantic last-minute emails, airlines can push live updates and reminders through channels like WhatsApp and RCS, guiding passengers through changing airport conditions, documentation checks, and real-time flight status. It’s less about broadcasting alerts and more about shaping behaviour upstream, so fewer people arrive unprepared and fewer problems need solving at the gate.
Where agentic AI changes the game is in what happens next. These systems aren’t just passing along information; they’re handling complex, multi-step interactions on their own. Baggage tracking, rebooking after a delay, seat changes—tasks that traditionally pile onto human agents during disruption—can be resolved autonomously, leaving ground staff to focus on the issues that genuinely require a human presence. Done well, it quietly shifts the passenger experience from reactive stress to something closer to guided flow, even when things don’t go exactly to plan.
A concrete example often cited is Virgin Atlantic at London Heathrow. Working with Infobip, the airline introduced a WhatsApp chatbot designed to handle pre-travel communication and real-time updates. The result was an 11% increase in online check-in rates, a small-sounding number that translates into noticeably less congestion at the airport and fewer last-minute interventions at desks. Passengers arrived better informed, and the terminal felt, if not calm, at least more predictable.
From the airline’s side, the value isn’t just operational. Simon Langthorne, Head of CRM at Virgin Atlantic, has pointed out that real-time notifications via familiar messaging apps do double duty: they smooth the customer journey while also streamlining airport operations. It’s one of those rare cases where passenger convenience and internal efficiency pull in the same direction instead of competing.
There’s also a commercial angle that’s hard to ignore. Conversational channels collapse the distance between awareness and action, allowing brands to move customers from questions to bookings, upgrades, or add-ons within a single thread. James Stokes, Head of Enterprise for the UK and Nordics at Infobip, frames it as a shift from problem-solving to concierge-style service. When agentic AI is paired with rich messaging, it reduces pressure on staff, lifts satisfaction scores, and opens new revenue opportunities right when demand is at its most intense.
None of this will magically eliminate border queues or fix structural labour shortages. But as another challenging summer approaches, intelligent, autonomous communication is emerging as one of the few tools travel brands can deploy quickly, at scale, and with measurable impact. In a season defined by volatility, staying ahead of the message may be the difference between controlled disruption and outright chaos.