British Airways Outlines Technology, Airport Upgrades In Transformative Program

British Airways (BA) has unveiled a “transformation plan” with £7 billion ($8.9 billion) to be invested in a wide range of initiatives, including a new website, artificial intelligence (AI)-aided baggage handling, a new lounge at Dubai International Airport (DXB), more London Heathrow Airport (LHR) employees and an Airbus A380 first-class makeover.

The carrier also announced plans to resume service from both LHR and London Gatwick Airport (LGW) to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in October, as well as restart LHR-Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) flights in November. LHR-BKK flights will operate daily with a Boeing 787-9, while LGW-BKK service will be flown 3X-weekly with a 777-200ER. LHR-KUL service will be operated daily with a 787-9.

The investment program will include a new website and mobile app offering more self-service options, with changes starting to be rolled out by late 2024. BA CEO Sean Doyle says in a statement that the carrier will be “heavily investing in the development of a new ba.com website and app and are laser-focused on transforming our business and fixing any pain points for our customers.” 

The airline notes it will spend £750 million to move 700 IT systems and thousands of servers to the cloud by early 2025. BA says it will also add around 350 employees at LHR “to improve customer experience at its home and hub airport, and is investing in new equipment, such as baggage tugs and towing vehicles.”

BA adds it is additionally investing £100 million in “machine learning, automation and AI across its operation,” including bookings and baggage handling. The airline says AI has the ability to “revolutionize” operations by allowing it to “speed up departures and respond to disruption” with tools to predict delays, “prompting preemptive action to reduce disruption.” The carrier plans to be able to analyze “real-time weather, aircraft capacity and customer connections data to help teams make better decisions.”

BA will open a new lounge at DXB later this year. “This lounge will be the first to feature British Airways’ new lounge design concept,” the airline says. “The new Dubai lounge will replace the existing lounge facility at the airport, offering more space and more features for customers.”