Airbnb is developing a service for booking air travel as the home rental start-up looks to compete with Priceline Group and Expedia for more of people’s online travel spending. Development of the flight-booking feature is early, and the company is considering various routes to break into the business, said people familiar with the plans. Airbnb may acquire an online travel agency or license data from a provider, such as Amadeus IT Group SA or Sabre Corp, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing unfinished products. Within the company, the project is simply known as Flights, the people said. Airbnb aims to get Flights off the ground before it pursues an initial public offering, which is likely in the next 18 months, the people said.
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