Business travel Daily · Wednesday, 7 October 2026

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.

Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) implemented an auxiliary sale procedure for Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport. On October 6, 2026, Spain's Aena Desarrollo Internacional S.M.E. obtained all shares of Concessionária do Aeroporto do Rio de Janeiro S.A. (CARJ), which manages the airport, and formally took over operations. ANAC announced on October 7 that the auxiliary sale procedure was completed. Earlier reports said the airport was in a share transfer stage; subsequent reports confirmed that Aena had obtained all CARJ shares and taken over operations.

The European Commission disbursed the first payments under the SAFE defence instrument to Belgium and Czechia; the specific amounts and timing were not disclosed in existing reports. On 6 October 2026, European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Tzitzikostas visited New Delhi and, together with India's Minister of Civil Aviation, launched the first EU-India high-level aviation dialogue, implementing the requirement to establish a regular aviation dialogue set out in the Joint Comprehensive Strategic Agenda of the January 2026 EU-India summit.