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KU Students Develop Airline Chatbot for Travelers

January 18, 2020

A team of Khalifa University students has developed a chatbot that will ease the flight booking process for group travelers. Team Safratna, comprised of BSc in Aerospace Engineering students Ashwaq Alkaabi, Shamsa Alyaarbi, and Amna Almatrooshi, was among the six finalist teams of Etihad Aviation Group’s Fikra University Competition 2019. The competition aims to empower talented university students across the UAE with hands-on experience in solving real-world problems in the aviation industry and encourage them to produce original solutions through creative thinking.

The chatbot, called Wahjini, was developed by Team Safratna to help group travelers with basic airline booking. When booking flights, the bot will include the whole group in a chat where they can choose their choice of destination and travel dates. The chatbot will also be able to send high-value upgrade suggestions, targeted offers, personalized recommendations, real-time flight notifications, as well as help check the visa requirements and process for the chosen destination. After everything has been finalized, the bot will then send the details to an Etihad agent to complete the booking.

The team presented their project to a judging committee that included Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group and other chiefs and executives from Etihad Aviation Group, SAP, Cognizant, and IBM. Demo day was held at the Abu Dhabi Youth Hub on 15 December 2020.

Ara Cruz
News Writer
16 January 2020