South Korea’s second largest full-service carrier Asiana Airlines Inc. Monday announced it has launched a beta version of its chatbot service enabling easier access to booking information and other frequently asked flight-related questions.

The chatbot service, the first kind in the local airline industry, is available through Facebook Messenger and Kakao Talk. As it is still a beta version, the service scope is limited to answering questions in 11 categories, including reservation confirmation, available flights, departure and arrival, membership mileage and Star Alliance member information. A wider range of services will become available later based on user feedback, according to the airline.

The chatbot was developed based on Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure and artificial intelligence-powered natural language processing technology LUIS.

“The chatbot service will substantially relieve the stress of customers who had to wait until they were connected with the customer service center even for simple inquiries,” said Nam Ki-hyung, senior vice president of commercial affairs at Asiana Airlines.

By Moon Ji-woong and Minu Kim

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