Why the UK travel industry is turning to Agentic AI to solve summer disruption

Infobip and Virgin Atlantic collaboration proves proactive passenger communication eases airport congestion

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LONDON, 23 February 2026 – The UK travel industry potentially faces another season of travel chaos this summer. The EU entry-exit system is predicted to increase immigration delays, while the sector is still facing post-Brexit staff shortage, threatening long queues, delayed and cancelled flights, and unhappy passengers. Global cloud communications platform, Infobip, highlights that travel brands must prioritise Agentic AI driven customer engagement to navigate this volatility and deliver timely, communication to improve operational efficiency and passenger experience.

Easing travel chaos with intelligent messaging
Proactive AI-driven engagement is becoming a critical buffer against travel chaos. By delivering automated information via preferred channels like WhatsApp and Rich Communication Services (RCS), airlines can prepare passengers for airport checks with live statuses, and logistical reminders.

This goes beyond simple alerts. Agentic AI autonomously resolves complex queries – like tracking baggage or rebooking flights – freeing up ground staff to manage on-site issues. It transforms the customer journey from stressful to stress-free.

Virgin Atlantic has successfully enriched passenger journeys at London Heathrow in partnership with Infobip. By implementing a WhatsApp chatbot, they increased online check-in rates by 11%. Significantly reducing airport congestion, and providing real-time flight information, ensuring passengers are prepared before they arrive at the terminal.

Simon Langthorne, Head of CRM at Virgin Atlantic, commented: “Empowering our guests with convenient, real-time notifications via WhatsApp not only enhances the customer journey but also streamlines our airport operations.”

Driving sales and satisfaction
This strategy also contributes to revenue growth. By engaging customers on conversational channels, brands can move passengers from awareness to booking within a single conversation.


“The travel sector is under immense pressure to deliver smooth experiences despite systematic hurdles. Our work with partners like Virgin Atlantic proves that when you combine agentic AI with rich messaging, you don’t just solve problems but offer a personalised concierge service. This reduces the burden of staff, boosts customer satisfaction, and unlocks new avenues for revenue streams during peak demand.”

James Stokes

Head of Enterprise, UK & Nordics at Infobip

About Infobip

Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected experiences across all stages of the customer journey, with AI as the driving force of innovation. Through a single, natively built platform, Infobip delivers omnichannel engagement, identity, user authentication and contact centre solutions that help businesses and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications while driving growth and increasing customer loyalty. Infobip is focused on enabling and accelerating AI adoption as it continues its transformation into an AI-first company. Infobip’s technology has the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile devices in 6 continents connected to over 10k+ connections of which 800+ are direct operator connections. The company was established in 2006 and is led by its co-founders, CEO Silvio Kutić and Izabel Jelenić. 

Recent award wins include:

  • Infobip recognized as a growth and innovation leader in Frost Radar™: Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) by Frost & Sullivan (Oct 2025) 
  • Infobip ranked as the number one Established Leader in the Juniper Research Mobile Messaging Fraud Prevention Market report (Sept 2025) 
  • Infobip named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) for the third consecutive year. In 2025, positioned furthest in Completeness of Vision (July 2025) 
  • Infobip named among Top 75 in Fortune’s Europe’s Most Innovative Companies 2025, placing it in the top 25% of all listed organizations (June 2025) 
  • Infobip ranked as a Leader in the Omdia CPaaS Universe Report for the third time (April 2025) 
  • Infobip ranked an Established Leader in the Juniper Research Conversational AI Leaderboard (Feb 2025) 
  • Infobip named a CPaaS Leader for the third time in the IDC MarketScape (Feb 2025) 
  • Infobip named one of the top CPaaS providers in Metrigy’s CPaaS MetriRank Report (Dec 2024)  
  • Infobip named number one among Established Leaders in RCS Business Messaging in Juniper Research’s RCS Business Messaging Competitor Leaderboard 2024 (Nov 2024)  
  • Infobip recognized as the number one provider in the AIT Fraud Prevention market by Juniper Research (Oct 2024) 
  • Infobip named to Fast Company’s Annual List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies (March 2024)