New York, March 12, 2007
Sudesh Patel
Continental Airlines announced daily nonstop flights between
its New York area hub at Newark Liberty International Airport
and Mumbai beginning Oct. 30, 2007, subject to government approval.
Continental has operated nonstop service between New York and
Delhi since 2005.
The flight will be 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. Mumbai is the
largest trans-Atlantic market not currently served by Continental
and offers significant opportunities for growth in the future.
Continental's New York/Newark-Mumbai flights will be operated
with Boeing 777-200 aircraft with Business First and Economy cabins.
Flying times will be approximately 14 hours and 50 minutes eastbound,
and 16 hours and 15 minutes westbound.
Entertainment: A Bollywood movie channel is
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
sub-titles (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.
Food: 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.
The new flights will feature Continental's renowned BusinessFirst
service, which 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.
This premium-class cabin features specially-engineered
electronic sleeperseats in a 2-2-2 configuration, with a 55-inch
seat pitch and adjustable "winged" headrests. The
BusinessFirst seat on the 777 is among the widest business
class seats in the world, measuring 22 inches between the armrests,
and offers a 170-degree recline and more than six feet of sleeping
space in the fully extended position. Other features include privacy
hoods and large seat side wings for greater privacy.
All BusinessFirst seats feature a laptop computer
power outlet, a satellite telephone, a flexible-neck reading light.
Other BusinessFirst amenities include gourmet menu selections
created by Continental's Congress of Chefs and fresh cappuccino
or espresso coffee made on request. A specially selected and trained
corps of more than 200 Concierges provides individualized pre-flight
and post-flight services for BusinessFirst customers at 35 key
international airports worldwide.
Flights to Mumbai will feature Continental's new Audio/Video
on Demand in both the BusinessFirst and Economy cabins
of its Boeing 777 aircraft. The first 777 with the new system
is scheduled to enter service this month. The entertainment systems
on these aircraft allow customers to choose from more than 250
movies, 300 short-subject programs 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.
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. The aircraft on the Mumbai route also have AC power
outlets available to every passenger, with no need for an adapter
in order to operate a PC or other approved device.
In 2006, Continental Airlines won its sixth J.D. Power and Associates
award since 1996. The carrier received the highest rank in customer
satisfaction among network carriers in North America in the J.D.
Power and Associates 2006 Airline Satisfaction Index Survey(SM).
For the third consecutive year, FORTUNE magazine named Continental
the No. 1 Most Admired Global Airline on its 2006 list of Most
Admired Global Companies. Continental was also named the No. 1
airline on the publication's 2007 America's Most Admired airline
industry list. Additionally, Continental again won major awards
at the OAG Airline of the Year Awards including "Best Airline
Based in North America" for the third year in a row, and
"Best Executive/Business Class" for the fourth consecutive
year. For more company information, visit continental.com.
SOURCE Continental Airlines
03/07/2007
