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Continental Airlines on Wednesday, March 25, will become the first U.S. carrier to inaugurate scheduled service between New York and Shanghai, China, with daily nonstop flights from the airline’s hub at Newark Liberty International Airport.
The new service will provide daily nonstop flights in 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.
“China is a valued international market for Continental, and we expect great success from this new nonstop route to Shanghai,” said Continental President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Smisek. “China remains an important business destination, with economic growth projected to continue this year despite the weakened global economy. We are proud to bring our outstanding product to Shanghai by launching this service as previously announced, even as other airlines are canceling or delaying similar routes.”
With the success of the Beijing Olympics showcasing modern China to the world, and the upcoming Expo in Shanghai in 2010, Continental expects to see increased demand for service between the U.S. and China over time.
Continental has operated nonstop service between New York and Hong Kong since 2001 and between New York and Beijing since 2005. With the new service to Shanghai, Continental will be the only airline in the world providing daily nonstop service between New York and three Chinese cities.
Convenient Flight Schedule
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 are approximately 14 hours and 30 minutes in each direction. The flight is timed to provide convenient roundtrip connections at Continental’s New York hub to more than 60 other cities throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Onboard Product Tailored for China Market
Continental’s Shanghai flights will feature special products and services for customers, with movies and music available in English and Mandarin, and local Chinese newspapers 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 designed by chefs based in the U.S. and in China will feature Chinese choices. 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.
Award-winning BusinessFirst Service
The new flights will feature Continental’s award-winning BusinessFirst service, rated by Conde Nast Traveler magazine as the highest among all U.S. carriers for trans-Pacific flights for 10 years in a row.
Beginning in the fall of 2009, the premium-class cabin will begin to 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 allow customers to choose from more than 250 movies, 300 short-subject programs including popular television shows and 3,000 music tracks, with a jukebox feature to make individual playlists. In addition, this new entertainment system has 25 video games and the interactive Berlitz Word Traveler foreign language program. With the AVOD system, Continental is installing in-seat power that will not require an adapter. One outlet is available per seat in BusinessFirst and two outlets for every three seats for all rows in main cabin.
Economy class on the Continental 777 is also exceptionally comfortable and spacious, in a 3-3-3 seating configuration with wider-than-usual aisles.
Continental also offers tour packages to China through Continental Airlines Vacations.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
