Jane Levere NEW YORK
Galileo International, the US-based global distribution system (GDS), acquired the remaining 80% of web site Trip.com that it did not buy last year. The new purchase cost $269 million, in a combination of stock and cash.
The web site, which uses Galileo as its booking engine, is geared to business travellers who are self-employed or work for small- to medium-size companies. It has developed software programs to help travellers, including Flighttracker, which monitors the location of commercial airline flights, and Intellitrip, which carries out airline inventory and price searches.
According to David Near, Galileo's senior vice-president of Internet and e-commerce, it bought the rest of Trip.com because of its "interesting technology and its management team". Galileo, which is testing its own site, will also rely on Trip.com to "help us bring that initiative to the market," Near says.
Source: Airline Business
