15Below, a Brighton company backed by the private equity firm LDC, runs the notification platform airlines use to tell passengers about delays and disruption. Ryanair has been a customer since 2002.
Founded in 2000, the company has 51 to 200 staff. Its core platform covers disruption alerts, journey messaging before departure and an always-on service for IT outages; it is rules-based automation rather than AI. The AI line arrived in July 2025 with the purchase of Airport AI, whose conversational platform is used at more than 80 airports including London Gatwick (LGW).
Ryanair sends more than 50 million notifications a year through the platform, and British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa and SWISS are also recorded as users. Scale figures such as more than 150 airlines and 1.8 million notifications a day, and the 97 per cent automation rate claimed for Airport AI, are the company's own.
Ryanair sends more than 50 million personalised notifications a year through 15below, the vendor says in a case study.
The relationship goes back about two decades. Ryanair was 15below's first customer, and in October 2022 the two marked 20 years together with a contract extension, Travel Daily Media reported on 6 October 2022.
During the Heathrow shutdown, British Airways alone sent more than 120,000 notifications through the 15below platform between midnight and 8am, 15below wrote in a blog post on 25 March 2025.
When disruption hits, Lufthansa Group airlines use Optimized Passenger Recovery, an Amadeus tool that re-plans affected journeys. It checks seat availability, takes account of frequent-flyer status and follows the airlines' own business rules, such as which carriers to rebook passengers on and in what order.
That is all in a Lufthansa Group factsheet dated 1 October 2024. After rebooking, the factsheet says, the tool triggers the passenger notification, including the new boarding pass, for flights of the group's airlines, among them Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
Cathay Pacific sends passengers automated flight messages by text and email from a notification platform developed with Amadeus and Accenture. Vivian Lo, the airline's general manager of Customer Experience and Design, told APEX in November 2019 that the platform sends pre-flight reminders seven days before departure and check-in reminders 48 hours before, with updates in between.
Cathay's current flight-messaging page says passengers are told whether a flight is on schedule, delayed by more than 15 minutes, diverted or cancelled, and members sign up once to receive messages for all their bookings. APEX also reported that a chatbot introduced alongside the platform can propose a flight change when disruption is expected, and Lo said frontline staff had been able to automate common problems such as rebooking.
Neither source describes a prediction or learning function in the messaging itself. Message volumes, take-up by channel and the platform's current suppliers were not published as of 16 October 2026.
Automated disruption management and passenger notification system that identifies affected passengers during schedule changes, cancellations, or irregular operations (IROPS) and delivers personalised communications with self-service rebooking options.
The problem it addresses
Eliminates manual, time-consuming passenger contact processes during flight disruptions; reduces inbound call centre volume; ensures accurate and timely personalised communication at scale without human error.
Key features
Real-time integration with airline reservation systems
Automated identification of affected passengers
Personalised notifications with self-service options (accept, decline, refund, credit)
15Below-hosted microsites for two-way passenger interactions
6 more features
Pre-approved branded notification templates configurable per airline
Friendly hours setting to restrict notifications to appropriate times
Notification engagement reporting retained for up to seven years
White-label solution with multi-language support (100+ languages)
Paired Workflow Manager module for advanced business rules and queue automation
IROPS Dashboard for single consolidated view of all disruption activity, flight status, notification history, operational checklists, and shift handover logs
Technical specifications (5)
Fully hosted and maintained by 15Below with 24/7 support
Full PNR handling including real-time itinerary updates and remark addition
Notification reports stored for up to seven years
Integrates with frequent flyer, loyalty, and CRM systems in addition to core reservation systems
Journey Messaging and Pre-departure Communications
Automated itinerary-based notification suite covering booking confirmations, pre-departure information, check-in prompts, and day-of-travel updates.
The problem it addresses
Reduces passenger uncertainty throughout the travel journey; replaces manual or generic broadcast communications with personalised, timely notifications; generates ancillary revenue through targeted offers embedded in journey communications.
Key features
Booking confirmation delivery with e-ticket receipts, PDFs, and barcodes
Pre-departure information including visa and entry requirements, baggage allowances, and insurance details
Check-in prompts with web and mobile boarding pass delivery
IATA standard barcode support for mobile ticketing
5 more features
Content enrichment with maps, traffic updates, and third-party data
Targeted ancillary promotions dynamically generated around passenger itinerary
Filtering logic for ineligible passengers (e.g. unaccompanied minors)
Multi-channel delivery across email, SMS, app push, and WhatsApp
Direct trigger from reservation system events in real time
Technical specifications (4)
Direct reservation system integration triggering events in real time
Customisable business rules for extracting and presenting complex PNR data
Multi-channel delivery: email, PDF attachment, SMS, app push
Third-party partner integration for ancillary revenue
Resilience solution that enables airlines to continue communicating with passengers during IT outages or system failures.
The problem it addresses
Prevents passenger communication blackouts during major IT disruptions or third-party system outages; protects airline brand reputation by maintaining personalised passenger updates even when core reservation infrastructure is unavailable.
Key features
Secure PNR storage in 15Below-hosted or airline-provided Offline Data Store
Notification platform operation independent of primary reservation system
Automated personalised passenger messages during system outages
24/7 support team access during outage events
2 more features
Compatible with existing 15Below notification platform customers
Training provision for airline operations teams on outage response procedures
Technical specifications (3)
Offline Data Store hosted by 15Below or customer-supplied
Integrates with the base 15Below notification platform
Supports full passenger database upload for batch or automated notification during outages
Omnichannel conversational AI SaaS platform that automates two-way interactions between airports (and, post-acquisition integration, airlines) and passengers.
The problem it addresses
Reduces airport and airline customer service labour costs by automating passenger interactions at scale; provides passengers with real-time, personalised information through preferred digital channels without requiring human agent intervention.
Key features
Two-way AI-powered conversational messaging for passengers
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