Airbnb could soon get into the business of flight bookings

Airbnb is moving beyond the lodging and rental solutions aiming for a bigger pie in the booming travel industry. The US-based startup is now looking to offer flight booking service within the next 18 months, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday.

In a bid to boost its business and grow bigger, the company’s latest effort is Flights, a project that looks to compete with the likes of Priceline and Expedia and could either involve Airbnb building its own proprietary tool, acquiring an online travel agency, or licensing data from a third-party.

The move isn’t a big surprise as last month, the company made it possible to book tours and restaurant reservations through Airbnb Trips. "We think travel can be magical and easy," Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said at the Airbnb Open Conference in Los Angeles, where he announced the launch of Trips. "The magic is in the people, it's all about immersing in local communities."

In the press release for Trips, the company mentioned shifting “focus on making the entire trip easy and magical" and said Flights and Services would be "added in the future."

The company which was last valued at $30 billion, is looking to raise $153 million more in venture capital funding. It closed a round of $555 million in September.