Google brings AI-powered flight deals to India, US, Canada, challenging OTAs
Google has rolled out its AI-driven ‘Flight Deals’ feature in India, the US, and Canada, aiming to become a starting point for travellers. Powered by Google’s Gemini AI, the tool understands natural language queries such as “a week-long trip to a city with great food” or “romantic weekend getaways,” and matches them with real-time pricing data from hundreds of airlines and online travel agencies (OTAs).
According to a report published by Hindustan Times, Flight Deals pushes Google further up the travel planning funnel, catering to both deal-seekers and early-stage planners. The feature lists ticket prices from OTAs such as MakeMyTrip, Cleartrip, and Goibibo alongside direct airline fares, ranking them by price, link quality, and user experience, though Google notes its data shows users often prefer airline links.
Queries for routes like Delhi–Chiang Mai produced dozens of airline and OTA options, with detailed breakdowns on layovers, aircraft features, and in-flight amenities during tests. Once a flight is chosen, users will see over 10 booking options, from direct airline portals to platforms like Booking.com and Trip.com.
For OTAs, the move could mean lost bookings if travellers bypass them in favour of direct airline reservations.
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US service member missing after Iran shot down fighter jet rescued
Washington (AP): A US service member who had been missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been rescued, President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post early Sunday.
The crew member had been missing since Friday, when Iran downed a US F-15E Strike Eagle. A second crew member was rescued earlier.
Trump wrote that the aviator is injured but “will be just fine,” adding that he took refuge “on the treacherous mountains of Iran.”
Trump added that the rescue involved “dozens of aircraft” and that US had been monitoring his location “24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue.”
The war began with joint US-Israel strikes on February 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.
The fighter jet was the first US aircraft to have crashed in Iranian territory since the conflict in late February.
Trump said last week that the US had “decimated” Iran and would finish the war “very fast.”
Two days later, Iran shot down two US military planes, showing the ongoing perils of the bombing campaign and the ability of a degraded Iranian military to continue to hit back.
The other jet to go down was a US A-10 attack aircraft. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it crashed was immediately known.
A frantic US search-and-rescue operation unfolded after the crash of the F-15E jet on Friday, focusing on a mountainous region in Iran's southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
Iran also promised a reward for anyone who turned in the “enemy pilot.” Iran's joint military command on Saturday said that it also struck two US Black Hawk helicopters Friday, but The Associated Press couldn't independently verify that.
