Canadian tour and airline operator Transat A.T. Inc. will spend $55 million to team up with H10 Hotels of Barcelona in a joint venture to operate five hotels in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.

The Spanish hotel chain Sol Meliá announced financial results for the first nine months of the year which show an increase of 16.1 percent in net profits to 141.9 million euros, and also announced the purchase of the German hotel chain Innside and its portfolio of 12 leased hotels, of which 8 are currently in operation in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Bremen. The other four hotels will be added between 2008 and 2010 in Vienna, Berlin, Dresden and Düsseldorf.

TravelRes the online hotel reservation service intensified its existing co-operation with Air Berlin and became a premium partner of Germany’s second largest airline. Next to various placements within the Air Berlin travel environment, for example, logo presenters at Air Berlin ticket and check-in counters, partner billboards on the outside of airplanes and advertisements within the onboard TV program, this premium co-operation comprises an increased online presence in particular.

In the third quarter of 2007, the Air Berlin Group transported 12 percent more passengers than during the corresponding quarter of the previous year, increased its fleet capacity utilization by 2.3 percentage points, raised its sales volume by 7.2 percent and, with net profit exceeding 60 million euros, achieved the highest quarterly net profit in its corporate history.

NCL Corp. reported an $8.6 million loss for the third quarter of this year, compared to earnings of $49 million in the same period of 2006.

A hedge fund with shares in both Delta and United sent a letter to Delta urging the two airlines to merge, but Delta immediately tried to quash the speculation that a deal is in the offing or has even been discussed. Delta did not, however, brush off the general idea of a merger.