Business travel Daily · Thursday, 1 October 2026
TRAVELVISTA
Long Lake completes $6.3 billion acquisition of Amex GBT and takes it private and delisted
Long Lake Management has completed its $6.3 billion acquisition of American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), taking it private and delisting it from the New York Stock Exchange, with shareholders receiving $9.50 per share. Long Lake said it will focus on shifting the Amex GBT technology platform toward agents.
OTA and Travel Management
Long Lake completes $6.3 billion acquisition of Amex GBT and changes CEO
On September 29, 2026, Global Business Travel Group (Amex GBT) announced that its acquisition by Long Lake Management in an all-cash transaction has been completed, valuing the company at approximately $6.3 billion. The transaction was announced on May 4, 2026, and was approved by a special shareholders meeting on August 3, 2026. Under the merger agreement, Amex GBT shareholders receive $9.50 in cash per share, a 65.1% premium over the 30-day volume-weighted average price on the date the merger agreement was signed. Following completion of the transaction, Amex GBT common stock ceased trading and was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, becoming a private company. On September 30, it was reported that Long Lake stated it would focus on shifting the Amex GBT technology platform toward the era of agentic travel management and deploy its self-learning AI platform Nexus; Amex GBT stated that client account teams, contracts, and services would not be interrupted. On October 6, Amex GBT announced a leadership transition, with current President Drew Crawley immediately succeeding Paul Abbott as Chief Executive Officer, and Abbott transitioning to Long Lake operating partner, which the company described as a planned transition.
Expedia B2B integrates CarTrawler and Tiqets, reaches Qantas partnership
On September 30, 2026, Alfonso Paredes, President of Expedia Group B2B and Chief Commercial Officer, said the CarTrawler acquisition was completed on September 1, Tiqets has been fully integrated, its activities inventory is live on the Expedia Rapid API, and is in small-scale testing in the UK Travel Agent Affiliate Program. Paredes said Expedia B2B second-quarter revenue grew 23% year over year, marking 20 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, but profit margins are under pressure due to partner mix and integration costs. On the same day, the Qantas loyalty program announced a strategic technology partnership with Expedia Group, covering the Qantas Hotels & Holidays and Jetstar Holidays platforms. Expedia Group B2B will provide an end-to-end travel experience based on its Composable Agentic Template, allowing users to book hotels and holiday packages, earn and redeem Qantas points, and manage trips through a single entry point. The upgraded platform is planned to launch in the first half of 2027, and construction and integration work is underway.
GDS, NDC and Distribution
Travelport Air Offer 26.11.33W Penalty Data Source Adjustment
On September 30, 2026, Travelport adjusted the data sources for change and cancellation penalties in Air Offer 26.11.33W. According to the report, when includeFullPenaltyDisclosureInd is false or not sent, voluntary change data is populated from Category 31, and voluntary refund data is populated from Category 33; regardless of the value of this parameter, applicable No Show penalties still come from Category 16. The current status is that the above data source adjustment has been released with this version.
Industry Data and Research
US Q2 2026 Average Domestic Airfare $445
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) released data showing that the US average domestic airfare for the second quarter of 2026 was $445, up 2.0% from the inflation-adjusted $436 in the first quarter of 2026. By trip type, one-way tickets accounted for 45%, with an average price of $312; round-trip tickets accounted for 55%, with an average price of $549. BTS also stated that starting from the third quarter of 2025, airfare sampling changed from 10% to 40% (the OD40 program); previously, fares were still based on 10% sampling, and because multiple airlines resubmitted data, this release's data has been updated.
IATA PressroomFirst partyIATA: Global air passenger demand in August 2026 down 0.8% year-on-year
On September 30, 2026, IATA released global passenger demand data for August 2026. Measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), total global demand in August fell 0.8% year-on-year; excluding the Middle East, it grew 0.6%. Total capacity (ASK) grew 0.3% year-on-year, and the load factor was 85.1%, down 0.9 percentage points year-on-year. By region, demand for Middle East airlines fell 14.6% year-on-year, interrupting the previous improving trend.