Delta Air Lines is trying to rally support from creditors to help fend off a takeover bid by US Airways, according to a newspaper report on Friday. Delta Chief Executive Gerald Grinstein and other executives have held a series of conference calls with creditors to sift through terms of US Airways’ offer, pressing creditors to back Delta’s restructuring plan, the Wall Street Journal reported on its web site.

Cap Cana, a tourism enterprise under the umbrella of the Abrisa Group, announced that it will be issuing corporate bonds in foreign markets for a value of $250 million, on the basis of 7-year terms and an annual interest rate at 9.6 percent. Cap Cana President Ricardo Hazoury said in the press conference that never before had a Dominican business enterprise obtained international financing at a rate lower than 10.8 percent.

Search engine marketing firm Spannerworks has been hired by TUI UK for search engine optimization and pay per click campaigns. According to an official release, Spannerworks is providing TUI UK with specialist SEO consultancy for Thomson.co.uk, which acts as a portal for the group’s various holiday businesses. The consultancy will help TUI UK overcome difficulties associated with applying a successful search strategy to such a large and complex site.

Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, and Chairman of CARICOM, Denzil Douglas has, once again, come out in support of regional integration, describing it as the way forward for sustainable economic development within the Caribbean. “I am of the view that the future of the Caribbean has to be grounded in its ability to effectively integrate in such a manner as to affect workable strategies that inform our foreign affairs and trade policies, and overall development strategies in an increasingly competitive world,” he said.

In October 2006, Air Berlin PLC once again achieved double-digit growth. The German low-cost carrier flew 13.8 percent more passengers as compared to the same month of the previous year. For October 2005, this figure amounted to 1,369,307 passengers in comparison with 1,558,885 in October 2006. In cumulative terms, for the period between January and October 2006, this accounts for a 13.4 percent increase to a total of 13,306,087 passengers.

Latin America is experiencing its “most vigorous three-year period of growth since the 1970s,” but the rate of expansion still lags behind that of competitors, and without more investment it will begin to slow down, the International Monetary Fund said last week. In its annual economic outlook for the region, the IMF also said that, despite reduced indebtedness, a recent increase in current public spending was “a significant source of concern”.