NEW YORK, Aug. 13 NY-CAL-NY-Shanghai
NEW YORK, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines
(NYSE: CAL) today announced that it will launch daily nonstop flights between
its New York area hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Shanghai,
China and through flight service between Cleveland and Shanghai beginning
March 25, 2009, subject to government approval. Effective today, the airline
has made seat inventory available for sale in preparation for the start of
service less than eight months from now.
Continental has operated nonstop service between New York and Beijing
since 2005 and between New York and Hong Kong since 2001.
The new service will provide daily nonstop flights to the largest
U.S.-China market that today lacks daily service, linking the world's
financial center and top business and tourism destination with China's center
for finance and trade.
"We are excited about extending our China route network to include nonstop
service to Shanghai," said Jim Compton, Continental's executive vice president
marketing. "Shanghai is the largest Pacific market currently not served by
Continental and offers significant opportunities for growth in the future."
The flight will be timed to provide convenient roundtrip connections at
Continental's New York hub to more than 60 other cities throughout the U.S.
and Canada.
Continental will operate the nonstop flight daily with a Boeing 777-200
aircraft. Flight 87 will depart Liberty at 11:20 a.m., arriving in Shanghai
mid-afternoon the following day at 1:45 p.m. The return flight 86 will depart
Shanghai in the afternoon at 3:45 p.m. and arrive at Liberty in the evening of
the same day at 6:20 p.m. Flying times will be approximately 14 hours and 30
minutes in each direction.
Continental's Shanghai flights will feature special products and services
for customers. Popular movies in Mandarin and English (when available from
the studio) will be featured on the inflight entertainment system, with
different programming provided in each direction for all customers to access
on their individual seat monitors. An audio channel will be dedicated to
playing traditional and popular Chinese music and local Chinese newspapers
will be available for BusinessFirst customers. Instructional videos,
including the safety and arrival video and pre-recorded announcements, will be
available in Mandarin. Menus will be available in English and Chinese and
inflight meals, which will include Chinese choices, are being designed by
chefs based in the U.S. and in China. A Mandarin-speaking flight attendant
will be available to help customers inflight and Mandarin-speaking agents will
be available to help customers at check-in.
The new flights will feature Continental's award-winning BusinessFirst
service. The Official Airline Guide has awarded Continental's BusinessFirst
as the Best Executive/Business Class for five consecutive years (2003 - 2007),
and Conde Nast Traveler magazine rated Continental's premium BusinessFirst
service the highest among all U.S. carriers for trans-Pacific flights 10 years
in a row.
Beginning in the fall of 2009, the premium-class cabin will feature
Continental's new 180-degree lie-flat seats. The lie-flat seats feature more
individual storage space and laptop power, iPod connectivity and 15.4-inch
video monitor for customers to enjoy on-demand movies, music and games.
Other BusinessFirst amenities include gourmet menu selections created by
Continental's Congress of Chefs. A specially selected and trained corps of
Concierges is available to provide individualized pre-flight and post-flight
services for BusinessFirst customers at 42 international airports worldwide.
Customers traveling in BusinessFirst are also able to access any of
Continental's 27 Presidents Clubs and more than 60 airline affiliated lounges
worldwide.
Flights to Shanghai will feature Continental's new Audio/Video on Demand
(AVOD) in both the BusinessFirst and Economy cabins of its Boeing 777
aircraft. The entertainment systems on these aircraft will allow customers to
choose from more than 250 movies, 300 short-subject programs including popular
television shows and 1,500 music tracks, with a jukebox feature to make
individual playlists. In addition, this new entertainment system has 25 video
games and the interactive Berlitz World Traveler foreign language program.
Continental expects to complete the installation of AVOD on its fleet of
Boeing 777 aircraft in May 2009.
Economy class on the Continental 777 is also exceptionally comfortable and
spacious, in a 3-3-3 seating configuration with wider-than-usual aisles.
Every Economy passenger has an individual seatback video screen, as well as an
inflight telephone with overwater capability.
Continental also offers tour packages to China through Continental
Airlines Vacations.
Continental Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental,
together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than
3,000 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 140
domestic and 139 international destinations. More than 550 additional points
are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines. With more than 46,000 employees,
Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and
together with Continental Express, carries approximately 69 million passengers
per year.
Continental consistently earns awards and critical acclaim for both its
operation and its corporate culture. For the fifth consecutive year, FORTUNE
magazine named Continental the No. 1 World's Most Admired Airline on its 2008
list of World's Most Admired Companies. For more company information, visit
continental.com.
SOURCE Continental Airlines
