CONTINENTAL AIRLINES: Continental Airlines' First Aircraft With Flat-Bed Businessfirst Seats Takes To The Skies

Continental Airlines' first aircraft with new flat-bed BusinessFirst seats took to the skies on Sunday, operating as flight CO98 from Hong Kongto New York/Newark.

The aircraft, a Boeing 777 used on long-haul international routes, is the first aircraft type in Continental's fleet to receive the new seats. The company will also install the flat-bed seats on its Boeing 757-200 and 767-400 aircraft, and on its Boeing 787 fleet as the aircraft are delivered to Continental.

"We began designing this seat three years ago, involving our customers and numerous other experts to get it just right and I couldn't be more pleased with the end result," said Larry Kellner, chairman and chief executive officer of Continental Airlines. "This is a great seat and I am excited to see more of them on flights throughout our system."

Flat-Bed Seat Reclines 180-Degrees

Continental's new BusinessFirst seats allow customers to lie completely flat, reclining 180-degrees and providing 6 A 1/2 feet (2 meters) of sleeping space in the fully extended position. Electronic controls enable customers to easily move the seat to an infinite number of adjustments, including lumbar support and fully extended sleep positions. Laptop power, headset and USB plugs are conveniently tucked above the customer's shoulder and iPod connectivity is also available at the seat. The seats feature 15.4-inch video monitors.

Perfecting Design Since Autumn 2006

Continental's product marketing team began researching new seat options in the autumn of 2006 when planning BusinessFirst service for the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline visited with numerous seat manufacturers worldwide before selecting BE Aerospace, which created five different design concepts. Concurrently, Continental sought feedback from a focus group of BusinessFirst frequent flyers that identified and prioritised key needs of global travellers and worked closely with the airline's project team and the seat manufacturer to help create the new seat. The important features requested by the focus group were to install a wider seat that could lie completely flat and be easy to operate.

Continental currently operates the Boeing 777 on routes between Newarkand Beijing, Shanghai, Delhi, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London/Heathrow, Mumbai, Paris, Rome, Tel Aviv and Tokyo, and between Houstonand London/Heathrow, Amsterdamand Tokyo.

Continental uses the Boeing 767-400 on routes between Newarkand Brussels, Paris, Frankfurt, Genevaand Honolulu; between Houstonand Frankfurt, Paris, Rio de Janeiroand Honolulu; and between Guam and Honoluluand Narita.

BusinessFirst on the Boeing 757 is currently offered on routes between Newarkand Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Birmingham, Bristol, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hamburg, Lisbon, London/Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Oslo, Paris, Shannon and Stockholm.

Notes to editors:

Continental Airlines (continental.com), celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,400 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 130 domestic and 132 international destinations. Continental is a member of Star Alliance, which provides access to more than 900 additional points in 169 countries via 24 other member airlines. Across the Atlantic, Continental operates up to 312 departures weekly from 29 airports in 16 countries to its U.S.gateway hubs at New York, Houstonand Cleveland, with onward connections to more than 200 cities throughout North America, Latin America and the Caribbean. Fortune magazine ranked Continental as the top airline in its World's Most Admired Companies 2009, for the sixth consecutive year. At the OAG Airline of the Year Awards 2008, based on voting by frequent flyers around the world, Continental won the Best Airline Based in North Americaaward, for the fifth year in a row. Continental's alliance carriers in Europe, the Middle East and Indiainclude, in addition to Star Alliance carriers, Emirates, Kingfisher Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Issued by Trimedia on behalf of Continental Airlines on 3 November 2009.

CONTACT: George Morrison / Susan Hutchinson, Trimedia Tel: +44 (0)20 7025 7500 e-mail: george.morrison@trimediauk.com e-mail: susan.hutchinson@trimediauk.com

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