Following Malaysia Airlines’ journey to digitalization, Malaysia Airlines revealed three new digital initiatives—MHguardian, MHfeedback and the Facebook messenger BOT, MHchat all of which are designed to enhance its passengers travel experience.

Malaysia Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer, Arved von zur Muehlen said, “Over the last 12 months, Malaysia Airlines has been prioritizing its investment in digital advancement. Our improved website has a ‘manage booking’ tool which allows for easier changes and refunds, dynamic currency conversion and a new Enrich members’ portal. We also have a range of value-added service on the website for our customers including car rentals, hotel bookings as well as Takaful insurance. Our inflight shopping, Temptations is also available for order online”.

“Our studies show a continuous trend of mobile-first in aviation. More than half of Malaysians prefer to plan, research and book their trips via mobile.  This just shows that passengers are more self-sufficient and that they want more control over their travels,” he added.

Malaysia Airlines’ latest app, MHguardian is a mobile application which enables parents or guardians to track unaccompanied minors throughout their travel with Malaysia Airlines. This mobile app was the winning idea of Malaysia Airlines’ 2017 Hackathon and is targeted to launch by quarter three of 2018. MHguardian will also be extended to support unaccompanied elderly passengers and passengers who require special assistance.

Already available for download is MHfeedback. This mobile app allows customers to immediately share their feedback anonymously on their experience with Malaysia Airlines. Passengers can type in their feedback, rate the airline’s service or upload photos of areas that require improvement.  Through artificial intelligence (AI) cognitive services, the images and comments submitted are classified and analysed for sentiment and immediately directed to the responsible service unit.

The third digital initiative, MHchat is an interactive Facebook Messenger BOT. It empowers all Malaysia Airlines’ passengers to make bookings, payment and retrieve their flight itinerary. Through the integration of AI, the BOT delivers an experience just like with a real customer service agent.

Malaysia Airlines is the first airline in Asia to allow users to book flights and process payments through Facebook Messenger.