Northwest Airlines has entered into formal merger discussions with Delta Air Lines and will look for another partner if Delta tries to merge with United Airlines instead, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said in a newspaper interview.

European Travel Interactive (eTRAVELi) has selected Amadeus to supply key travel content and fare-search technology to ensure they remain the Nordic region’s largest online travel agency.

Vueling carried a total of 6,219,605 passengers during 2007, an increase of 77.20 percent in relation to 2006 as the carrier reported. Annual average load factor was 73 percent, 3.61 points above last year’s.

For the month of December, system traffic on a consolidated basis for Air Canada and Jazz rose 2.4 per cent on a capacity increase of 1.6 per cent system wide. This resulted in a load factor of 78.8 per cent versus 78.2 per cent in December 2006, a record for the month. Load factor for the full year was 80.6 per cent on a combined basis, a record for the fourth consecutive year.

Delta’s board met January 11 and reportedly considered a proposal from CEO Richard Anderson to let him begin discussions with United and Northwest about a potential merger with one of the carriers.

In yet another troubling sign for the greenback, at least one of the seven wonders of the world is now off limits if you have only U.S. currency in your pocket. India’s tourism minister said Thursday that the dollar will no longer be accepted at the Taj Mahal and other national tourist sites.