UNIQUE REGIONAL 'MICRO HUB' OFFERS UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS BETWEEN NEW YORK'S CAPITAL, 12 NORTHEASTERN CITIES
ALBANY, N.Y., January 15, 2002 - Continental Connection today announced the
launch of an innovative new hub at Albany International Airport that
shortens flight times and doubles the number of connections between New
York's capital city and 12 regional business centers.
Albany's unique new "micro-hub" reverses the traditional approach of routing
all regional flights through major hubs, which often requires travel outside
the region. By creating a hub at the geographic center of its key business
routes and redesigning its short-haul air service schedule, Continental
Connection carrier CommutAir now offers faster and more convenient
connections than ever.
"Our customers told us they wanted the most efficient possible means of
traveling around the Northeast, and that's exactly what we've delivered with
our new Albany hub design," said Chairman and CEO John Sullivan of
CommutAir, the Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based regional code share partner of
Continental Airlines (NYSE:CAL).
"By synchronizing our arrivals and departures and shortening turnaround
times for connecting flights, we're delivering more connections and the
shortest total elapsed times for their trips," Sullivan said. "Now, business
travelers don't have to travel 200-300 miles outside the region to make a
connection between cities inside the region."
Albany's new Continental Connection micro hub operates much like a larger
hub, with peak arrival and departure banks timed to the needs of business
travelers and multiple daily flights in each direction between Albany and
"spoke" cities. By closely timing arrivals and departures from all cities
and focusing on fast turnarounds, Continental Connection allows customers to
easily deplane and board a connecting flight to any of the dozen
destinations served through the Albany hub.
The new schedule eliminates layovers and reduces overall flying time by
avoiding circuitous routes to distant hubs, resulting in the fastest
available connections between Albany and Syracuse, Rochester, Long
Island/Islip, Saranac Lake/Lake Placid, New York City/LaGuardia and Buffalo,
N.Y.; Burlington, Vt.; Harrisburg, Penn.; Portland, Maine; Manchester, N.H.;
Providence, R.I.; and Boston. In addition, multiple connecting flights are
available daily to Plattsburgh from Burlington and Saranac Lake/Lake Placid.
Continental Connection serves Albany with a fast, efficient new fleet of
Beech 1900 aircraft. Its high-frequency regional service is supported by
Continental Express ground operations at Albany and complemented by
Continental Express regional jet connections to Continental Airlines' major
Northeast hub at Newark International Airport.
In addition to enjoying the fastest available short-haul air service via
Albany, Continental Connection customers who are members of Continental
Airlines' OnePass frequent flyer program also will earn a minimum of 500
OnePass miles for each Continental Connection segment flown. New OnePass
members can earn an additional 1,500 miles after their first flight on
Continental Connection.
Continental Airlines is the fifth largest airline in the U.S. and New York's
largest passenger carrier, flying more than 20 million customers a year in
and out of the region. With approximately 300 daily departures from its
Newark International Airport hub alone, Continental accounts for more than
60 percent of the airport's flights. Continental flies from New York/Newark
to more than 100 domestic and international cities, including frequent
non-stops to Europe, Latin America and Asia.
CommutAir, based in Plattsburgh, N.Y., has served the Northeast as a
regional airline since 1989. The company has more than 200 employees and
currently serves 16 cities throughout New York, Pennsylvania and the New
England states. CommutAir is partially employee owned through an employee
stock ownership plan. The attached map depicts the multiple daily flights
between Albany and cities served from the new Continental Connection hub.
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