Online giant Google has signed an agreement to buy ITA Software, one of the leading providers of airline travel software.  The deal, for $700 million, is expected to raise more antitrust issues for competitors and the US regulators that have been scrutinizing Google’s every move lately.  Google CEO Eric Schmidt said on a conference call yesterday that he expects “that it would be a significant review” and because of that, could not estimate when the deal would finalize.

ITA Software provides software that organizes and compiles varying airline travel data such as flight times and fares.  They provide this data to companies throughout the travel industry including airlines, travel agents, online travel portals and even Microsoft’s Bing.

Antitrust experts agree that the deal would get a detailed review by regulators but that it would end up being approved, just as Google’s recent purchase of AdMob, the mobile  ad firm.  The major concern for regulators would not be that it would make Google dominant in the industry but that the potential for the company to use its considerable power to damage online travel companies – what would be Google’s competitors.

In other travel ventures, Google Maps became the official provider of maps to OnStar today, after forming an agreement earlier this month.