Continental upgrades fleet

Continental Airlines announced plans to begin operating four new Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Guam beginning October 1999. The aircraft are the first of the nine new generation 737 scheduled to be delivered to Guam in the next 15 months.

The 737 will initially replace four Boeing 757. The remaining deliveries will replace five Boeing 727. The deliveries are part of Continental’s fleet rejuvenation plan, which will ultimately result in all new Boeing aircraft for the Guam operation and one of the youngest fleets in the Pacific.

The 737 will have 155 total seats configures, with 14 first class and 141 coach class, which will allow replacement of the 727 without a loss in capacity.

The new aircraft have much more range capability, fly faster and have a video entertainment system. They are also fuel efficient, greater reliability and easy maintenance. This will allow Continental to efficiently serve the smaller population markets in Japan and elsewhere. The new aircraft may also allow increased frequencies in markets with less than daily service when market conditions improve.

“We are very excited about the new Boeing 737,” says Bill Meehan, president of Continental Micronesia. “The aircraft are much more capable than the Boeing 727 and will allow Continental Airlines to offer better product to our customers.”

Numerous schedule adjustments will be made as a result of the introduction of the 737 into the Pacific system. These schedule adjustments will increase seats by 11 percent over the previous year for the effected cities.

“As we have stated before, Continental remains committed to the market and will increase capacity when faced with a credible increase in passenger demand,” said Meehan.

Flights to Sendai and Hong Kong will be increased by one flight per week beginning November 1, 1999. Flights to Sapporo and Niigata will also be increased by one flight per week and Fukuoka will increase by two flights per week beginning in December.

The 737 will begin serving the Taipei market in December 1999. As a result of the redeployment of the 757, Continental will suspend service to Noumea, New Caledonia on October 1, 1999.

In addition to the new 737, Continental will redeploy an additional DC-10 to Guam in December 1999 as a result of firming demand from the Japan market. The aircraft will be used to upgrade daily morning flights to Nagoya and operate four times a week to Manila.