, Columnist
Europe's Secret Tech Champion Is Making Too Much Money
Its airline customers may be rebelling, but Amadeus will be hard to dislodge.
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Europe doesn't have any globally important technology companies besides SAP SE and Spotify, harp the critics. Nonsense: Amadeus IT Group SA, Europe's second most valuable software business, has become so powerful its customers in the airline industry are in rebellion.
A growing rift over the fees it charges to process airline ticket bookings has prompted analysts and investors to question whether might finally be dislodged from its perch atop the global travel industry. That looks unlikely: the Madrid-based company is indispensable to airlines and making itself more so.