British Airways customers visiting the carrier’s lounges at New York Newark and San Francisco International can try out a new automated cocktail maker.
Promoted as using Artificial Intelligence to offer a selection of 30 cocktails, the Barsys machine dispenses drinks in under 45 seconds, and is being trialled until next month.
BA is the first UK airline to trial the technology, with customers ordering their drink and then placing a glass on the conveyor belt, letting the machine do the rest.
As part of the trial the carrier has created two locally-inspired cocktails for the menu – Silicon Galley and Echo-Whisky-Romeo.
Barsys founder and CEO Akshet Tewari said that while the machine “will never replace a good bartender”, it can “free them up to make more complicated drinks and interact with customers”.
BA has gradually been refurbishing its lounges worldwide, including the San Francisco facility last year.
Meanwhile Ricardo Vidal, British Airways’ head of innovation, said:
“We are always looking at innovative ways to enhance our customers’ journey on the ground and in the air. Barsys offers a new cocktail experience and what better way to trial this technology than in San Francisco, in our newly refurbished lounge, and Newark, two of the most cosmopolitan and tech-savvy metropolitan regions in the US”.
