• Uber aims to be wider travel app as it turns first profit   

Excerpt from BBC

The ride-hailing company, famous for upending the global taxi business, wants to do the same for holiday travel, by expanding the services available on its app.

Boss Dara Khosrowshahi discussed his ambitions to make Uber a go-to travel platform as the firm reported its first-ever global operating profit.

The milestone came as a record number of Uber trips were taken this spring.

Mr Khosrowshahi said recovery in the travel business had opened an opportunity for Uber to become a bigger player - especially in the UK, where travel agencies still play an outsize role compared with other markets such as the US.

Flight bookings via the Uber app became available in the UK in May. It enabled train and coach bookings in the UK last year.

"Travel is a very important eco-system for us, both in terms of pick-ups and drop-offs, so we said hey, why can't we go after this tour operator market?" Mr Khosrowshahi said. "Essentially we are building up services that we think rival traditional tour operators."

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