Continental Airlines (IATA: CO, ICAO: COA, and Callsign: Continental) (NYSE: CAL) is an airline of the United States. Based in Houston, Texas, it is the 4th largest airline in the U.S. and the 6th largest in the world. Continental's tagline, since 1998, has been Work Hard, Fly Right.

Continental flies to destinations throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia from its three hubs at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (in Houston, Texas), Newark Liberty International Airport (in Newark, New Jersey near New York City), and Hopkins International Airport (in Cleveland, Ohio). Additionally, Continental Micronesia, covers cities in Hawaii, Polynesia, Micronesia, Australia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia from its hub at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport in Guam. (Continental Micronesia was a wholly-owned subsidiary operation as an affiliate carrier until it was folded-into the Continental mainline operation after September 11, 2001.)

Continental is a minority owner of ExpressJet Airlines, which operates under the trade name Continental Express but is a separate, public company. Cape Air, Colgan Air, CommutAir, and Gulfstream International Airlines feed Continental's flights under the "Continental Connection" name; Continental does not have any ownership interests in these companies.

Since September 2004, Continental has been a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, which it joined alongside Northwest Airlines and KLM. Previously, it was part of the planning stages for the Wings Alliance, which never actually solidified as a functioning airline alliance. In addition to extensive code-share arrangements with SkyTeam partner airlines such as Delta Air Lines, the airline also code-shares with Amtrak to some cities in the northeastern United States, and with SNCF French Rail to stations in France.

Current history

Continental went on to expand its international operations. In 1998 it launched flights to Ireland and Scotland and in October 1998 the airline received its first Boeing 777, allowing non-stop flights from Newark and Houston to Narita, Japan. Continental also launched partnerships with Northwest Airlines, Copa, Avant Airlines, Transbrasil, and Cape Air, and Continental and America West Airlines became the first two US airlines to launch interline electronic ticketing. In 2002 Continental announced that it would open a hub at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico to compete with American Airlines.

On March 1, 2001 Continental launched a non-stop flight from Newark to Hong Kong, flying over the North Pole, which was the first non-stop long-haul flight service for any airline with flying duration of 16 hours. However the September 11 attacks and the SARS outbreak in Asia caused service to be suspended until August 1, 2003. The launch in 2001 started the battle between Continental, United Airlines and Cathay Pacific over non-stop flights between Hong Kong and New York.

On February 22, 2005, the United States Department of Transportation announced that both Continental and American had won a battle with Delta Air Lines to operate flights to China, with Continental offering a daily flight from Newark to Beijing beginning June 15, 2005. With the announcement, both Continental and American, along with United, will become the only three United States based airlines to offer non-stop flights between the United States and Mainland China. (Northwest Airlines operated non-stop flights to Beijing from Detroit from 1996 to 2002). Continental also flies non-stop from Newark to New Delhi and plans to start service from Newark to Shanghai in 2007. In 2005, Continental expanded service from Newark to five new European destinations including Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland, Stockholm-Arlanda Airport in Sweden, Bristol International Airport in the United Kingdom, and Hamburg Airport and Tegel International Airport (Berlin) in Germany. By May, 2006, Continental passed bankrupt Northwest Airlines to become the fourth-largest U.S. carrier, the first change in the top-five rankings since 2001.

Destinations

Continental flies to the most destinations of any US airline in Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, and is the only US airline to fly to Norway, Northern Ireland, Indonesia, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. It has the most international destinations of any U.S.-based airline, which includes new non-stop flights from Newark to Copenhagen, Barcelona, Cologne, and Moncton.