FRANKFURT - Meet Mildred. Lufthansa`s latest hire in customer support is "a friendly lady with glasses and her pink hair in a bun", according to the German airline. Actually, Mildred is more digital than human. Lufthansa developed the chatbot avatar "Mildred" to help customers browse for flights.

REYKJAVIK - Icelandair announced they will offer passengers the option of booking their next transatlantic flight through Facebook Messenger. The Facebook Messenger Stopover Bot is one of the newest examples of tech-driven passenger experience in the airline industry.

LONDON - Easyjet has unveiled a prototype smart shoe - named the "Sneakairs" - which with their built-in technology could help passengers explore new cities (or navigate through unfamiliar airports) with ease.

DUBLIN - Ryanair, once notorious for its spartan cabins and hands-off attitude to customer service, plans to give passengers still unconvinced by a recent charm offensive a platform to make their gripes clear.

HAMBURG - Arrive. Rate. This is the seamless approach APEX, the industry network for passenger experience, takes with its app-based passenger-survey tool "Official Airline Ratings".

AMSTERDAM - David Marcus is excited about KLM. Royal Dutch is the first airline to integrate Facebook Messenger, the tool Marcus is responsible for at Facebook`s Menlo Park headquarters, into its passenger communication strategy. A smart move that might see other airlines follow and adapt soon.