Antitrust tips

Spanish regulators levied a $530 million fine against Booking.com in the fourth quarter in a draft decision, Booking Holdings announced Thursday.

Choice Hotels created a storm last October when it went public with a hostile takeover bid for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. It is giving Wyndham stockholders until Friday to tender their shares.

Alaska Air Group CEO Ben Minicucci gave an eerily familiar line when asked about his view on U.S. government approval of the carrier’s proposed $1.9 billion merger with Hawaiian Airlines.

The European Commission has all but officially blocked Booking Holding’s almost 2-year-old pending acquisition of Swedish flight-tech company eTraveli Group, and Booking confidentially sent a memo to national competition authorities detailing why it thinks the commission’s arguments are flawed.

EU antitrust regulators warned on Friday a bid by South Korea’s biggest carrier, Korean Air Lines, for second-place Asiana Airlines could hurt competition, as they opened a full-scale investigation of the deal.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a suit to block the proposed $3.8 billion merger of JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines citing competition concerns.

Online travel agency Booking Holdings Inc is expected to receive an EU antitrust warning about its 1.63 billion euro bid for Sweden-based Etraveli Group, three people familiar with the matter said.

The European Union’s antitrust regulators on Friday warned that Booking Holdings’ planned acquisition of Sweden-based rival ETraveli may strengthen the U.S. company’s position in the market for hotel online travel agencies, and push up costs for hotels.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the Big Three legacy airlines have changed their pricing policy for multi-city trips. And yes, you guessed it: The new policy makes such trips more expensive. In some cases, much more expensive.