Fliggy introduces AI assistant Feizhu Bangbang to move beyond travel planning

The report said Feizhu Bangbang works as an intelligent assistant team rather than a simple Q&A or itinerary tool. Fliggy launched a previous AI product, Wen Yi Wen, in April 2025. The new assistant is designed to operate across pre-trip, during-trip and post-trip stages, using Fliggy's existing product, order and service systems to handle reservations, cancellations, seat selection, invoicing and other tasks.

In a hands-on test described by the report, a natural-language request for a five-day Xinjiang trip with six people on a 15,000-yuan budget produced a structured itinerary covering route, transport, accommodation, attractions, dining and budget. Users could adjust hotel standards to match the budget and get a detailed road book with maps and countdowns. A feature called copy guide extracts times and places from bookmarked articles or videos and turns them into a structured itinerary.

The assistant can directly book products from complex queries. The report gives an example of finding a hotel near the Temple of Heaven with a view of the blue glazed dome, within 800 yuan per night, from a regular chain, no B&Bs, and close to a subway. It also handles post-booking chores such as seat selection, immigration forms, refunds, invoicing and hotel upgrades. For upgrades, the AI asks user permission and then calls the hotel front desk to try to obtain a complimentary upgrade. Fliggy acknowledged it is an interim version and will be updated weekly.

Fliggy CTO Chen Ye said the product fuses a natural-language interface with the traditional graphical user interface instead of making the whole app conversational. The app embeds AI in search and transaction pages; complex requests can be typed or spoken naturally, while other operations remain point-and-click. Chen was quoted as saying that half a year ago, many industry leaders considered GUI extremely efficient for transactions and LUI nearly useless in those scenarios, but views are changing.

Fliggy CEO Zhuang Zhuoran has said there may be no OTA in the future but there will be Omni-intelligence Travel Agents. The report described Fliggy's move as an attempt to redefine the product form of the online travel industry rather than attach a chatbot to an existing portal. Fliggy said monetization is not part of its current plan. It sees AI as infrastructure embedded in the supply chain, transaction flow and fulfillment flow, not as a separate traffic portal.

The launch comes as the AI industry asks how to monetize huge capital investment. AI coding has shown one path: Anthropic's Claude Code reached $1 billion in annualized revenue within six months of its May 2025 launch and hit $2.5 billion by February 2026. Travel is a harder domain because needs are highly personalized, information is fragmented, and real-time supply and offline fulfillment add uncertainty. Traditional OTA business models in China have also reached their limits, with diminishing growth and low-quality competition.