Albany, NY (December 1, 2000) - - - Rev. Michael A. Farano, Chairman of the Albany County Airport Authority today announced the arrival of Continental Connection at Albany International Airport. Continental Connection will immediately add 31 daily weekday departures to the Airport's schedule. The Continental Connection flights will begin tomorrow, Saturday, December 2, with 10 departures on Saturdays and Sundays.

"Continental Connection offers Capital Region travelers the opportunity to make timely connections to major hubs as well as popular commuter locations within New York and New England," said Rev. Farano. "The addition of Continental Connection to the Albany International Airport fleet is a real bonus for our customers."

Continental Connection will begin service with flights to Buffalo, Rochester, Saranac Lake, White Plains, Islip and LaGuardia in New York. The airline will also offer flights to Boston and Manchester, New Hampshire, a rapidly expanding airport that is increasingly providing service to passengers to and from the greater Boston region.

"This Continental Connection service further enhances Continental's already strong presence in the Northeast," said Greg Hart, managing director of Corporate Development for Continental Airlines. "Working together, CommutAir and Continental will be able to better serve customers throughout the Northeastern states with high frequency service to places they want to go, an extended route network and improved service benefits."

Continental Connection will fly the popular Beechcraft 1900, a 19-passenger, twin-engine turbo-prop. The airline will offer tickets at the Continental Express counter and board passengers from gates A-1 and A-2 located on the first floor of Concourse-A.

The addition of Continental Connection's fleet required substantial expansion of the existing apron to accommodate the increased number of arriving and departing aircraft and to provide sufficient space for the additional aircraft to park overnight. The expansion also included the remodeling a portion of the first level of Concourse-A and the addition of a new Gate A-2 . Work on the project was completed in less than two months.

Continental Connection is operated by CommutAir of Plattsburgh, NY, which has served the Northeast as a regional airline since 1989. The company has over 400 employees. The airline, partially employee owned through an employee stock ownership plan, has been consistently profitable since 1989, with total revenues in 1999 exceeding $80 million. CommutAir had previously operated aircraft for USAirways under the USAirways Express banner.

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