Continental Airlines to launch daily non-stop service between New York and Hamburg

Continental Airlines is to launch daily non-stop flights between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Hamburg, Germany, effective June 9, 2005, subject to government approval.

The news comes two days after the airline announced it would launch daily service between New York/Newark and Berlin effective July 1, 2005. Continental already offers daily service from New York/Newark to Frankfurt.

Jim Summerford, Continental’s Vice President – Europe & Middle East, said: “Adding Hamburg as our 23rd trans-Atlantic point helps to make Continental an even easier first choice for travelers who want the simplicity of flying nonstop to their European destination.”

Senator Gunnar Uldall, head of the Department of Economy and Labour of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg said: “As a successful business and tourism location, Hamburg welcomes Continental Airlines with open arms. Both Germans and Americans are set to profit from this new route between New York/Newark and Hamburg. Indeed, this will only serve in strengthening our already close links to the U.S.”

Continental's Hamburg-New York/Newark flights will be operated with a 172-seat Boeing 757 aircraft, carrying 16 passengers in the BusinessFirst cabin and 156 in Economy.

Flight CO74, will depart New York/Newark daily at 6:00 p.m., arriving at Hamburg at 7:45 a.m. the next day. The return flight CO75 will depart Hamburg daily at 9:15 a.m., arriving at New York/Newark at 11:55 a.m. the same day. Flying times will be approximately 8 hours 40 minutes westbound and 7 hours 45 minutes eastbound.

The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, one of the 16 states of the federation, is the second largest city in Germany with 1.8 million inhabitants. In this sense it is a city as well as a state. It is situated some 60 miles from the North Sea estuary of the river Elbe.

Hamburg is the greenest city in Germany and boasts more bridges than Venice, London and Amsterdam combined. With more than 90 consulates, Hamburg ranks second only to New York as the city with the most consulates in the world. Tourism has a vitalizing effect on Hamburg's economy. In 2003 Hamburg registered around 5.4 million overnight stays, a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase.

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