Continental Airlines to Launch Daily Direct Flights between New York and Mumbai

Continental Airlines is to launch daily nonstop flights between its New York area hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Mumbai beginning 30 October 2007, subject to government approval. Continental has operated nonstop service between New York and Delhi since 2005.

“We are excited about extending our Indian route network to include nonstop service to Mumbai,” said Jim Compton, Continental’s executive vice president-marketing. “Mumbai is the largest trans-Atlantic market not currently served by Continental and offers significant opportunities for growth in the future.”

Mumbai will be the 30th city in Continental’s trans-Atlantic route network.

Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is the business and entertainment capital of India and its most populous city, with an estimated population of 13 million (25 million in the greater metropolitan area). Many financial institutions and corporations have their headquarters in  Mumbai, which is also home to the world-famous Bollywood film and television industry.

Continental’s New York/Newark-Mumbai flights will be operated with Boeing 777-200 aircraft with BusinessFirst and Economy cabins. Flying times will be approximately 14 hours and 50 minutes eastbound, and 16 hours and 15 minutes westbound.

Continental’s India flights feature special products and services for customers. A Bollywood movie channel is featured on the inflight entertainment system, with different programming provided in each direction for all customers to access on their individual seat monitors. Movies are in Hindi with English sub-titles (when available from the studio). In addition, movies on other channels are programmed with Hindi subtitles (when available from the studio). Traditional Indian music is incorporated in the world music audio channel. Instructional videos, including the safety and arrival video and pre-recorded announcements, are available in Hindi. Menus are available in English and Hindi. Inflight meals, which include Indian vegetarian and Indian non-vegetarian choices, have been designed by Indian chefs based in the U.S. and in India. No beef is served. Local Indian newspapers are available for BusinessFirst customers.

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