British Airways is adding a welcome addition to its flights

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British Airways is rolling out a new service for passengers.

Those on board BA planes will now have the ability to use messaging apps on flights freed from cost from subsequent month.

The airline stated the adjustments will allow passengers to guide seats on various flights, together with these operated by different carriers.

The airline stated it would roll out the service over two weeks from April 3, enabling travellers to ship and obtain textual content on apps similar to WhatsApp, iMessage, FacebookMessenger and Teams.

All the service’s Gatwick plane and greater than 80% of its Heathrow-based fleet have wifi, with the rest anticipated to be fitted with the know-how by the top of 2025.

Passengers should register with British Airways’ free loyalty scheme to use complimentary onboard messaging, which will probably be restricted to a single machine per individual.

Those wanting to use apps to ship or obtain photos, movies or attachments, browse the web or stream content material should buy passes costing between £4.99 and £21.99.

Enhanced wifi entry is a part of British Airways’ £7 billion “transformation plan”.

This consists of creating a new cellular app and web site, which can enhance help given to clients whose flights are cancelled.

Passengers entitled to lodge rooms and meals will even be despatched vouchers direct to their digital gadgets.

Difficulties accessing name centres or discovering workers at airports means clients of all airways are sometimes pressured to pay up entrance for meals and lodging throughout disruption, and later submit claims for reimbursement.

This leads many passengers to miss out on what they need to obtain underneath shopper legal guidelines as a result of they’re unaware of their rights or can not afford the prices.

It comes as Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur have been added again on the British Airways map.

Television presenter Steph McGovern hosted an occasion for the airline within the City of London on Monday evening, at which she advised bosses: “I’ll be honest with you, I hate the app.”

Chief industrial officer Colm Lacy replied: “I wish I had a pound every time I heard that statement.”

He added: “Having a new technology platform allows us to do things that we just can’t do on our existing platform. It’s all about personalisation.”

Other areas included within the “transformation plan” are new short-haul and firstclass seats, utilizing AI to enhance flight punctuality and plane reliability, a new lounge at Dubai Airport, and the return of flights between Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur, and between Gatwick and Bangkok.

British Airways chief govt Sean Doyle stated: “We’re on a journey to a better BA for our people and for our customers, underpinned by a transformation programme that will see us invest £7 billion over the next two years to revolutionise our business.

“We’re going to take delivery of new aircraft, introduce new cabins, elevate our customer care, focus on operational performance and address our environmental impact by reducing our emissions and creating a culture of sustainability.

“We’re also 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.”