Catch up on the essentials
- The Luxembourg-based EU General Court on September 9, 2026, upheld the European Commission's 2023 decision blocking Booking Holdings' €1.63 billion (about $1.90 billion) acquisition of Swedish online flight-booking operator ETraveli Group.
- The European Commission concluded in its 2023 decision that the deal would have created an integrated travel ecosystem for Booking, leaving rivals unable to compete.
- Booking said it is reviewing the judgment and considering an appeal to the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, which could still alter the case's outcome.
Selected from this article · 2026-09-09
Read on for the full pictureEU General Court rejects Booking's challenge
The Luxembourg-based EU General Court on September 9, 2026, upheld the European Commission's 2023 decision blocking Booking Holdings' €1.63 billion (about $1.90 billion) acquisition of Swedish online flight-booking operator ETraveli Group. Judges agreed with the Commission that the takeover would have strengthened Booking's already dominant position in the market for online travel agencies in the hotel sector and that the Commission had followed its own merger rules and applied the correct legal standard. The case is registered as T-1139/23 Booking Holdings v. Commission.
Reasoning behind the original veto
The European Commission concluded in its 2023 decision that the deal would have created an integrated travel ecosystem for Booking, leaving rivals unable to compete. The General Court endorsed that assessment, rejecting Booking's arguments that the regulator had not followed its own merger-control rules and had applied an incorrect legal standard. The Commission has intensified scrutiny of so-called "killer acquisitions," in which dominant firms acquire smaller rivals to eliminate competition or reinforce their market position.
Possible appeal to the bloc's top court
A Booking Holdings spokesperson said the company is "incredibly disappointed" and "remain firmly of the view that the Commission's assessment was wrong, both on the facts and on the law." Booking said it is reviewing the judgment and considering an appeal to the European Court of Justice, the EU's highest court, which could still alter the case's outcome.
The businesses at the center of the dispute
Booking's portfolio includes Booking.com, Rentalcars, Priceline and Agoda. ETraveli, which was owned by private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners at the time of the proposed deal, operates the Gotogate and Mytrip consumer brands and also runs TripStack, an airline-content distribution services provider. The exchange rate cited in the case was $1 = €0.8593.
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