United and Continental announce new international routes

CHICAGO, Ill. – United Continental Holdings, Inc. today announced that its subsidiaries United Airlines and Continental Airlines will launch service on several new international routes in the first half of 2012, as the company expands its route network as a result of the merger. These new routes were included in the company’s previously announced capacity guidance.

“Since our merger last year, the new United’s unmatched global route network and U.S. hub structure have allowed us to offer our customers more flights to more places they want to go,” said Jim Compton, executive vice president and chief revenue officer. “By adding these new international routes, we continue to put the right aircraft in the right markets to serve our customers’ needs.”

Continental will add new daily nonstop flights beginning in May 2012 between Washington/Dulles and Manchester, U.K., and beginning in June 2012 between Washington/Dulles and Dublin, Ireland, subject to government approval. The airline will also add weekly nonstop service between Los Angeles and Durango, Mexico, in March 2012, subject to government approval.

United will add new daily nonstop flights between New York/Newark Liberty and Buenos Aires, Argentina, in April 2012.

In addition, Continental will launch previously announced new daily service between Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport and Lagos, Nigeria, on Nov. 16, 2011, and a second daily flight between New York/Newark Liberty to Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 2, 2012.

Over the past year, the company has leveraged the flexibility of its combined fleet to better match market demand. The company has added new routes from its hubs on the East and West coasts to international destinations such as Guadalajara, Mexico; Montreal, Canada; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Providenciales, Turks and Caicos; Shanghai, China, and Stuttgart, Germany, along with new intra-Asia routes between the Tokyo hub and Hong Kong and between the Guam hub and Okinawa, Japan. The merger also enabled the company to add a number of new domestic routes by using a mix of mainline and regional aircraft from both carriers more efficiently.