Continental Airlines to Inaugurate Nonstop New York-Mumbai Service Monday

HOUSTON, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Continental Airlines on Monday will inaugurate nonstop service between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Mumbai, India.

Continental will initially operate the service four times a week — departing New York Liberty on Sundays, Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays — with the frequency increasing to daily service effective Oct. 28, 2007.

“We are pleased with the support we have received for this new nonstop route that allows travelers to avoid lengthy and inconvenient connections in Europe and the Middle East,” said Jeff Smisek, Continental Airlines President. “We see significant opportunities for growth on this new route linking America’s financial center with India’s business and entertainment capital and most populous city.”

Mumbai will be the 30th city in Continental’s trans-Atlantic route network. Continental has operated New York-Delhi nonstop service since 2005.

Convenient Flight Schedule

Continental will be utilizing the Boeing 777-200 aircraft on the New York Liberty-Mumbai flights, carrying 50 passengers in the BusinessFirst cabin and 235 in economy.

The flight schedule will be as follows:

Flight CO48 will depart New York Liberty on Sunday and Monday at 7:20 p.m., arriving at Mumbai at 7:40 p.m. the next day; on Friday and Saturday, the flight will depart New York Liberty at 8:00 p.m. and will arrive at Mumbai at 8:20 p.m. the following day. The return flight CO49 will depart Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday at 11:45 p.m., arriving at New York Liberty at 6:30 a.m. the following day. Flying times will be approximately 14 hours 50 minutes eastbound and 16 hours 15 minutes westbound.

Effective Oct. 28, 2007, the frequency of the service will increase to daily and the schedule will change slightly. Flight CO48 will depart New York Liberty daily at 8:20 p.m., arriving at Mumbai at 8:40 p.m. the next day. Flight CO 49 will depart Mumbai daily at 10:40 p.m., arriving at New York Liberty at 5:25 a.m. the following day.

The flights are timed to provide convenient connections at Continental’s New York hub with more than 230 other cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Touches of India Onboard

Continental’s India flights feature special products and services for Indian customers. Two Bollywood movie channels are featured on the inflight entertainment system, with different programming provided in each direction for all customers to access on their individual seat monitors. Movies are in Hindi with English subtitles (when available from the studio). In addition, movies on other channels are programmed with Hindi subtitles (when available from the studio). Traditional Indian music is incorporated in the world music audio channel. Instructional videos, including the safety and arrival video and pre-recorded announcements, are available in Hindi. Menus are available in English and Hindi. Inflight meals, which include Indian vegetarian and Indian non-vegetarian choices, have been designed by Indian chefs based in the U.S. and in India. No beef is served. Local Indian newspapers are available for BusinessFirst customers.

Expanded Opportunities with Kingfisher

In July this year, Continental entered into a comprehensive partnership with India’s Kingfisher Airlines for frequent flyer and airport lounge access reciprocity and future codesharing, providing better service to customers who travel between the U.S. and India and transfer between the two carriers. Beginning Oct. 1, 2007, members of the two airlines’ frequent flyer programs, Continental’s OnePass and Kingfisher’s King Club, can earn miles on all flights operated by the other carrier, with redemption capabilities beginning later in the year. Reciprocal airport lounge access for eligible customers, including Continental BusinessFirst and Presidents Club members, also begins Oct. 1, 2007. Early next year, the carriers plan to begin codesharing. Continental will place its code (CO*) on Kingfisher flights connecting to Continental’s daily flights between New York and Delhi and between New York and Mumbai. Customers traveling on connecting flights between Continental and Kingfisher will be able to have single check-in for all flights, including the issuance of electronic tickets, boarding passes and checked baggage to their final destination.

Superior Comfort and Service

The new flights will feature Continental’s renowned BusinessFirst service, which has won the Best Executive/Business Class award in the OAG Airline of the Year Awards in each of the past five years, based on voting by frequent flyers worldwide. BusinessFirst was also voted Best Transatlantic Business Class among U.S. airlines in Conde Nast Traveler magazine’s Business Travel Awards 2006 — for the 9th year running.

Economy class on the Continental 777 is also comfortable, 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. The first few rows of seats in economy class also feature individual laptop computer outlets.

Continental is currently installing Audio/Video on Demand 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 television programs and 150 compact discs, 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.

Company Information

Continental Airlines is the world’s fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 3,100 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving nonstop 144 domestic and 138 international destinations. More than 400 additional points are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines. With more than 45,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with Continental Express, carries approximately 67 million passengers per year. Continental consistently earns awards and critical acclaim for both its operation and its corporate culture. For more company information, visit continental.com.

Continental Airlines

CONTACT: Corporate Communications, Houston, of Continental Airlines,+1-713-324-5080, corpcomm@coair.com

Web site: http://www.continental.com/