CONTINENTALAirlines is to build UKcapacity fromregional airports instead of London due to slot constraints.
Daily flights to New York Newark from Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow will be operated by Boeing’s latest large capacity long-haul jets. Transatlantic services are currently on smaller DC-10s and B757s, but are being replaced with B777 and B767 aircraft. A B777 gives Continental 41 extra seats compared to its DC-10s.
Continental president and chief operating officer Greg Brenneman said restraint on slots at Gatwick and continued lack of access at Heathrow meant UK regions would benefit from more seats. “We want to build capacity out of the UK to feed traffic through our Newark hub.”
The switch from DC-10s to B777s starts at Manchester on September 10. Glasgow and Birmingham operations will change on April 5 and June 11 respectively, when DC-10s take over from smaller Boeing 757s. However, the DC-10s will be replaced by the larger Boeings within four years.
Brenneman said Continental was unlikely to launch its planned daily Gatwick-Cleveland flight this summer because it could not get economically viable slots.