Continental Airlines and Continental Micronesia Applaud Historic U.S.-Japan Open Skies Agreement
December 12 2009 - 12:47AM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines
(NYSE: CAL) and Continental Micronesia said today that they applaud
the recently announced open skies agreement between the U.S. and
Japan. The U.S. Government has signed an historic open skies
agreement that will provide the U.S. industry guaranteed access to
Tokyo's Haneda airport for the first time in the 30-plus years it
has been closed to U.S. carriers. In addition, U.S. airline
customers, shippers, communities and employees will benefit from
aviation liberalization with Japan including a broader choice of
airline flights, itineraries, fares and eventually more flights
between the two countries. The carriers are confident that the new
U.S.-Japan agreement establishes a fair opportunity for them to
compete in all the important markets between the two countries.
Continental currently serves eight cities in Japan (Sapporo,
Sendai, Niigata, Tokyo, Nagoya, Okayama, Hiroshima and Fukuoka)
with more than 70 weekly departures, and will add Osaka on a year
round scheduled-service basis from December 23. In October,
Continental joined Star Alliance and currently serves Japan in
conjunction with alliance partners including United Airlines and
ANA. Continental is currently discussing deeper cooperation with
these two airlines on trans-Pacific routes, and this cooperation
would be facilitated by the new Open Skies agreement. "We deeply
appreciate the leadership of Secretary of State Clinton and
Secretary of Transportation LaHood in this process," said
Continental Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner. "Both the U.S. and
Japan negotiating teams deserve credit for achieving this
break-through agreement, which will re-define air travel between
the two countries for years to come." Continental expressed
gratitude to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Senator Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam),
Congressman Gene Green (D-TX), and virtually the entire Texas
Congressional Delegation for recognizing the benefits of open skies
and encouraging the U.S. negotiators to conclude this deal.
DATASOURCE: Continental Airlines CONTACT: Corporate Communications,
+1-713-324-5080, Web Site: http://www.continental.com/
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