Continental Flew 7.9 Billion Consolidated RPMs in March 2010

Continental Airlines reported a March consolidated (mainline plus regional) load factor of 83.1 percent, 3.7 points above the March 2009 consolidated load factor, and a mainline load factor of 83.6 percent, 3.7 points above the March 2009 mainline load factor.

Both March load factors were records for the month. The carrier reported a record domestic mainline March load factor of 85.8 percent, 1.5 points above the March 2009 domestic mainline load factor, and an international mainline load factor of 81.7 percent, 5.9 points above March 2009.

During March, Continental recorded a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on-time arrival rate of 77.7 percent and a mainline segment completion factor of 99.8 percent.

In March 2010, Continental flew 7.9 billion consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 9.5 billion consolidated available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a consolidated traffic increase of 5.2 percent and a capacity increase of 0.5 percent as compared to March 2009.

In March 2010, Continental flew 7.0 billion mainline RPMs and 8.4 billion mainline ASMs, resulting in a mainline traffic increase of 5.5 percent and a mainline capacity increase of 0.8 percent as compared to March 2009. Domestic mainline traffic was 3.4 billion RPMs in March 2010, up 0.3 percent from March 2009, and domestic mainline capacity was 4.0 billion ASMs, down 1.4 percent from March 2009.

For March 2010, consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) is estimated to have increased between 14.5 and 15.5 percent compared to March 2009, while mainline RASM is estimated to have increased between 13.0 and 14.0 percent.

For February 2010, consolidated passenger RASM increased 7.7 percent compared to February 2009, while mainline passenger RASM increased 5.8 percent compared to February 2009. Continental ended the first quarter 2010 with an unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance of approximately $3.15 billion.

Continental’s regional operations had a March load factor of 79.2 percent, 3.5 points above the March 2009 regional load factor. Regional RPMs were 838.5 million and regional ASMs were 1,058.1 million in March 2010, resulting in a traffic increase of 2.8 percent and a capacity decrease of 1.8 percent versus March 2009.

Continental Airlines is the world’s fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,500 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 133 domestic and 135 international destinations. Continental is a member of Star Alliance, which overall offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries through its 26 member airlines. With more than 41,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with its regional partners, carries approximately 63 million passengers per year.