Plunderland

What is Plunderland?

US-based airlines collected more money for tickets last month than in any August on record, with the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) reporting $9.8 billion in airline sales.

Latest ARC data revealed that US consumers purchased 25.8 million passenger trips in August 2026 (+5%), spending 19% more on air travel than they did a year ago. The average ticket price soared 17% year-over-year to $624, with economy tickets at $569 (+17%) and premium classes at $1,454 (+11%).

August’s totals set a new record for ARC-reported and settled sales, reflecting the continued strength of the U.S. travel market and continued demand,” said Steve Solomon, ARC’s chief commercial officer. “The strong summer trends from June and July carried into August, with travel to both U.S. domestic and international destinations remaining steady from the prior month and above 2025 levels.”

What is Plunderland?

The supplier had so far stood behind Black Cube’s investigation, and previously described it as “undertaken lawfully” to understand and verify “concerns of significant regulatory and commercial importance”.

Spectrum’s report was subsequently commissioned by Evolution to refute Black Cube’s accusations. In its latest release on Wednesday, Playtech said Evolution had “publicly characterised the Spectrum Report as exonerating it”.

But Playtech has claimed that the Spectrum report, which is now publicly available, was unable “to confirm or refute” some of Black Cube’s claims, “as Evolution failed to provide Spectrum with significant information it had requested”.

About Plunderland

The committee considered the bill once, on 3 February, and has since taken no further action.

Meanwhile the government has been approaching the issue via a new bill. Sports minister Sadok Mourali said in November 2024 that a gambling and sports betting bill had been circulated for consultation. Twenty-six public institutions received that consultation, including the central bank, Competition Council and financial intelligence authority.

A year later he said the draft had been completely revised to bring it into line with international standards on sports betting manipulation and money laundering.