UNITED AIRLINES TO INTRODUCE DAILY NEW YORK-ISTANBUL SERVICE

CHICAGO, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL), today announced plans to launch daily, nonstop flights between its New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, and Istanbul, effective July 1, 2012, subject to government approval. Westbound service from Istanbul begins July 2.

Istanbul will be the 76th international destination that United serves from New York/ Newark and the 37th city in United's trans-Atlantic route network. With service to points in the Americas, Europe and Asia, United offers more flights from the New York area to more destinations worldwide than any other airline.

"We are excited to add Istanbul to our global route network," said Jim Compton, United's executive vice president and chief revenue officer. "This new service will provide customers throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America direct access to one of the most important cities in the region." 

Convenient SchedulesUnited flight 904 will depart New York/ Newark daily at 7:27 p.m. and arrive in Istanbul at 12:20 p.m. the next day. Flight 905 will depart Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport daily at 1:55 p.m. and arrive at New York/ Newark at 6:02 p.m. the same day.

The airline will initially operate the services with three-cabin Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 183 seats – six in United Global First, 26 in United BusinessFirst and 151 in United Economy, including 67 Economy Plus seats with added legroom. Effective Aug. 28, the airline will operate the service with two-cabin Boeing 767-300 aircraft with 214 seats – 30 in BusinessFirst and 184 in Economy, including 46 Economy Plus seats. Both United Global First and United BusinessFirst feature flat-bed seats, along with a wide range of premium-cabin services and amenities.

About United Continental Holdings, Inc.United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) is the holding company for both United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Together with United Express, Continental Express and Continental Connection, these airlines operate an average of 5,656 flights a day to 376 airports on six continents from their hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark Liberty, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. United and Continental are members of Star Alliance, which offers more than 21,000 daily flights to 1,290 airports in 189 countries. United and Continental's more than 80,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. For more information about United Continental Holdings, Inc., go to UnitedContinentalHoldings.com. For more information about the airlines, see united.com and continental.com or follow United on Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.

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