AI for travel: Virgin Atlantic reinvents planning with its Virtual Concierge

In an ever-changing travel industry, technological innovation is becoming an essential lever for delivering ever more personalized and seamless customer experiences. Virgin Atlantic is taking a new step in this digital transformation with the launch of its "Virtual conciergea travel assistant powered by artificial intelligence. This initiative promises to revolutionize the way travelers plan and book their journeys, combining the power of AI with the brand's characteristic human warmth.

A personalized planning experience thanks to AI

The new service, called "Virgin Atlantic Conciergeis now available on the Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic Holidays. Powered byOpenAI and developed in partnership with Tomoro, this intelligent assistant aims to "reinvent the way travellers plan and book their journeys".. It presents itself as a true travel companion, able to interact in natural language, whether by text, voice or click. Thanks to its multimodal technologyThe Virtual Concierge understands the context of requests, memorizes the user's preferences and formulates real-time, customized suggestions for flights, stays or vacation offers.

Artificial intelligence at the heart of customer relations

Siobhan FitzpatrickVirgin Atlantic's Chief Experience Officer, underlines the importance of this breakthrough: "We're reinventing the way we interact with our customers. The Concierge listens, understands and responds, while helping to plan stays with the same care as our teams." She adds: "Our ambition is to create brilliant and different experiences, combining human warmth with the power of technology."

Beyond simple reservation assistance, the Virgin Atlantic Concierge is also designed to manage loyalty program queries Flying Club and provide a continuous customer support24 hours a day. The aim is to streamline the digital journey while retaining the brand's distinctive tone and personality. This launch is perfectly in line with Virgin Atlantic's innovation approachwhich aims to distinguish itself in the premium travel with increasingly personalized and integrated experiences, both on the web and on board.

Towards a unified mobile application in 2026

The deployment of the Virtual Concierge precedes the release of a new mobile application planned for 2026. This application will bring together all the services offered by the company and Virgin Atlantic Holidays in a single application. intuitive, connected interface. Users will be able to manage their flights, stays and loyalty accounts from a single personalized space. According to the company Virtual concierge and future application inaugurates "A new chapter in the personalization of Virgin Atlantic travel".by combining the warmth of human service with the precision of AI.

Founded by Richard Branson in 1984, Virgin Atlantic has always cultivated its image of a bold and innovative company. Since the gradual resumption of air traffic following the pandemic, the British airline has strengthened its position in the transatlantic market, in particular through its joining the SkyTeam alliance in 2023 and increased investment in digitalization and customer service.

With this new Concierge, Virgin Atlantic joins other industry players who are experimenting with the use of theconversational artificial intelligence to enhance the passenger experience and automate online interactions. This move underlines the underlying trend in the travel industry: the increasing integration of AI to deliver smarter, more personalized and more efficient services.