Business travel Daily · Thursday, 22 October 2026

On October 21, 2026, Amadeus and NVIDIA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deepen their collaboration and explore how accelerated computing and travel-specific AI can support faster, more scalable flight search. According to a release on the Amadeus Newsroom, the two parties have already conducted preliminary technical evaluations and benchmarking on NVIDIA Hopper and Blackwell platforms, and have used NVIDIA CUDA to rework part of the flight search process so that multiple computations can run in parallel on GPUs. Business Travel News reported the same day that the new agreement will continue this work, ensuring flight search remains accurate and bookable as AI shopping evolves, and exploring cloud and infrastructure efficiency to address growing AI travel demand. PhocusWire reported the same day that the collaboration focuses on three areas: using accelerated computing to improve search speed and scalability, with preliminary tests on NVIDIA Hopper and Blackwell GPUs showing potential for improvements in response time and scalability; exploring the development of travel-specific foundation models; and using cloud computing resources more efficiently. The collaboration is currently at the MoU stage, and the reports did not disclose a specific implementation timeline or commercial deployment arrangements.

On 21 October 2026, the European Commission opened formal proceedings against Booking.com to assess whether it breached the Digital Services Act (DSA). The investigation focuses on: the platform not adequately assessing and mitigating the risks of fake listings and phishing scams; not clearly labelling listings that are paid to be boosted in search rankings as advertising; and the way booking and guest data is shared with accommodation providers and the design of the in-platform messaging service. If found in breach, this would involve DSA Articles 34, 35 and 26(1). The Commission stated that opening proceedings does not prejudge the final outcome and that it will prioritise an in-depth investigation. Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen said that Europeans should be able to book holidays without being scammed, and that Europe's leading booking platform must take its DSA responsibilities seriously. Follow-up reporting the same day further noted that the investigation focuses on non-existent listings, impersonation fraud, non-compliant accommodation products, and phishing risks in the platform's messaging service, and mentioned that very large online platforms that breach the DSA can be fined up to 6% of their global annual turnover.

The Houthis attacked Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Tuesday and Wednesday. Earlier reports said the attacks killed 3 people and injured 36; later reports said the October 10 attack killed at least 12 people and injured 309, with the dead including four Saudi citizens and one each from Bangladesh, the United States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Sudan; the injured were all receiving treatment in hospitals, some in critical condition, and property damage was still being assessed. The terminal was hit again on October 11, killing 1 person and injuring 11. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation announced an extension of the suspension of operations at King Khalid International Airport, closing it until midnight Saudi local time on October 18, and it has not been confirmed whether commercial flights can resume by then. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, 312 of the 1,194 flights departing Saudi Arabia on Thursday were canceled or did not take off, more than a quarter of the total; later reports said one-third of Saudi flights were canceled and several high-profile events were postponed. Yemen's Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks, explicitly listing Saudi airports and airspace as targets and warning international airlines and travelers to stay away. Delta Air Lines had planned to launch a direct Atlanta-Riyadh route on October 23, but said on Monday it would delay the launch until March 2027 because of the successive attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines to exercise caution when flying to or over Saudi Arabia, citing military activity and navigation system interference, and said the threat could affect all altitude phases including overflight, approach and departure. Saudi airlines have resumed service, but the confidence needed by international airlines and event organizers has not been restored. Travel industry executives said corporate travel to Saudi Arabia has been almost entirely suspended, few inbound and outbound flights are still operating, travelers already there are leaving by land via Bahrain or Dammam, and most Umrah pilgrims are also abandoning flights for road travel. The latest reports say the attacks have affected Gulf tourism, with hotels and tour operators in the UAE and Oman reporting softer forward bookings and more security inquiries, but available hard data show the two countries are far less affected than Saudi Arabia.