- Brian Chesky, 36, is the founder of Airbnb and is now worth £2.7bn
- He says flights are a logical next step for the online holiday rental business
- Airbnb is now one of the world’s biggest privately owned tech firms
The founder of Airbnb is plotting to launch an airline in a bid to dominate the entire holiday market.
Brian Chesky, 36, said flights are a logical next step for the online holiday rental business, which has transformed tourism in the decade since it launched.
He said: ‘We’ve seriously considered a lot of things around aviation and we’ve spent a lot of time exploring different concepts.
Brian Chesky, pictured with his artist girlfriend Elissa Patel, is now worth £2.7billion
‘We definitely want to make sure, though, that we can get into the end-to-end trip business.’
Airbnb is now one of the world’s biggest privately owned tech firms, with a value of about £22billion – well over twice the size of the UK’s largest listed hotel firm, Intercontinental.
AIRBNB’S RISE TO SUCCESS
Airbnb started a decade ago with airbed rentals
- Airbnb started a decade ago with airbed rentals in a San Francisco flat
- Founder Brian Chesky (pictured with girlfriend Elissa Patel, an artist) is now worth £2.7billion
- The company lists 4.5million properties in 192 countries
- Its most expensive holiday lets have included a Loire Valley chateau for £6,899 a night
- More than 300million people have used the service since 2008 – almost one a second