Business travel Monthly · 2026 · October

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.

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.

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.

On October 20, 2026, BCD Travel announced a partnership with Amadeus and Sabre to begin moving from traditional queue-based data collection to cloud-based streaming transmission, delivering instant booking, ticketing and NDC updates directly into the servicing environment. The report did not disclose further details such as implementation timeline, phased arrangements or scope of coverage. Progress currently remains at the announcement stage of this partnership and the shift to cloud-based streaming distribution.

On October 2, 2026, Amadeus Newsroom announced that Air Arabia signed a group-level distribution agreement with Amadeus to expand distribution coverage through Amadeus's global travel sales network. The agreement is based on a light ticketing model, allowing travel sellers to connect to the airline's systems in real time within standard GDS workflows, booking and managing Air Arabia content in the same interface. The report stated that Air Arabia is the largest low-cost airline operator in the Middle East and North Africa, carrying more than 20 million passengers annually, operating more than 200 routes, and having six hubs in the United Arab Emirates (Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah), Morocco, Egypt, and Pakistan.

On October 14, 2026, Hospitality Technology reported that Amex GBT announced the launch of Hotel Lobby, a set of autonomous multi-agent AI capabilities, within its global hotel procurement and consulting business, to automate data cleansing, wish-rate calculation and RFP validation. The report stated that the capability covers enterprise procurement of $5 billion in hotel spend. As of the latest report, the development is that Amex GBT has officially launched this multi-agent AI capability.

On October 12, 2026, SAP announced at SAP Connect the launch of multiple AI innovations in SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass and SAP Concur, including Spend Analytics Assistant. This is the latest report on the event; previous reports only covered SAP Concur releasing new AI expense management features.

On October 27, 2026, IATA released data showing that in 2025 global airlines processed USD 1.05 trillion in sales, generating USD 24.5 billion in payment costs, up 10.4% from 2023, higher than the 7.7% increase in sales over the same period. The average cost per transaction was USD 5 per passenger, of which payment fees were USD 20.7 billion, accounting for 84.5%, and the average card payment rate was 2.53%. IATA said it is promoting payment efficiency improvements through IATA Pay, IFG and a new corporate travel payment solution. On October 28, at the World Financial Symposium and World Passenger Symposium in Macau, IATA proposed that the aviation industry needs to translate digitalization progress in retail, payment and digital identity into more efficient passenger journeys and stronger financial resilience; currently 7 airlines have launched or implemented Orders, with more than 20 expected to follow starting in 2027, and IT suppliers' investment in Offers and Orders has exceeded USD 1.7 billion. On the same day, Web in Travel also reported the above digital value priorities proposed by IATA at the Macau summit.

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.

In October 2026, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Tuesday issued final certification for the Boeing 737 MAX 10, clearing the way for deliveries of the largest variant to begin. Airlines have ordered more than 1,550 MAX 10s, accounting for 31% of Boeing's outstanding 737 orders. Boeing said deliveries will begin in the coming months, with the first aircraft expected to be delivered to Canada's WestJet in early 2027. The variant still needs certification from Canadian and EU regulators, and the related procedures are expected to take several more months.

On October 26, 2026, SITA announced it had reached an agreement to acquire Flightscape, the aviation operations software business under CAE Inc. On the same day, PhocusWire reported that the transaction's enterprise value was US$500 million. Flightscape's software is used daily by more than 90 airlines for flight planning, crew management, operations control, ground coordination and inflight services. SITA plans, after the transaction closes, to integrate Flightscape in phases with its existing products including Safety Line and Big Blue Analytics, to help airlines coordinate operations, anticipate disruptions and improve recovery. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approval, and has not yet closed.

On October 2, 2026, at the LATAM Conference 2026 held in Mexico City, GBTA released research forecasting that Latin America business travel spending will reach US$67.7 billion in 2026, a year-on-year increase of approximately 11%, one of the highest regional growth rates globally; and it is expected that growth will slow to 3.3% in 2027.