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Continental Airlines’ 25th aircraft with new flat-bed BusinessFirst seats and additional upgraded amenities has taken to the skies.
The carrier’s flat-bed seats made their operational debut in November 2009 and are being installed on aircraft used on long-haul international routes. Currently the seats are being installed on Continental’s Boeing 777 and 757-200 fleets, with 11 777s and 14 757-200s completed. In addition, Continental will take delivery of two new Boeing 777 aircraft outfitted with the flat-bed seats by the end of July. The seats will also be installed on many of Continental’s Boeing 767-400 aircraft starting in 2011 and on the Boeing 787 fleet as the new aircraft are delivered to the company.
The BusinessFirst flat-bed seat reclines 180 degrees and provides 6 feet 6 inches of sleeping space in the fully extended position on the Boeing 777 (6 feet 4 inches on the Boeing 757-200). It is one of the widest business-class seats in the air, measuring up to 27 inches (25 inches on the 757-200). Laptop power, headset and USB plugs are conveniently tucked above the customer’s shoulder. iPod connectivity allows each customer to view their personal videos and enjoy their music while their iPod is charging. The new seats feature 15.4-inch video monitors for customers to enjoy on-demand movies, music and games.
“Our new BusinessFirst flat-bed seat is highly popular with our customers, and is a feature that makes our award-winning BusinessFirst product even more enjoyable,” said Jim Compton, Continental’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer. “Continental continues to invest in products that our customers want and value.”
Continental currently operates the Boeing 777 on international routes between Newark and Beijing, Delhi, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London/Heathrow, Mumbai, Shanghai, Tel Aviv and Tokyo, and between Houston and Frankfurt, London/Heathrow and Tokyo.
BusinessFirst on the Boeing 757 is currently offered on routes between Newark and Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Birmingham, Bristol, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hamburg, Lima, Lisbon, London/Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Oslo, Paris, Shannon and Stockholm.
Continental utilizes the Boeing 767-400 on routes between Newark and Athens, Brussels, Geneva, Paris, Rome and Zurich; and between Houston and Amsterdam, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
© Japan Today
10 Comments
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delitachan
Nice...for the ones who pay the thousands for this kind of amenity. The rest of us will suffer like cattle in Peasant class.
Though I admit I was once lucky enough to get a business class upgrade FREE because the check-in lady felt so SORRY for me because I wanted an upgrade but didnt have the miles. I later got the seat as I settled myself down in the plane. Yays.
rainman1
Every flight I have been on recently in Business Class has been full. Reasonable fares can be found in Business Class if you do some hunting around on the web and book well in advance. Long haul (7 hours+) fares can be suprisingly good value.
Tokyoapple
Isn't Continental now United?
Kwaabish
Now only if they could upgrade the cabin crew...
Sarge
I'll be impressed when they install flat-bed seats in economy class.
No, strike that, I'll be impressed when they offer flights on aircraft where no one has a flat-bed, but everyone has adequate legroom and elbow room.
mikehuntez
Hahaha! Yes if only...
Yes cattle class just isn't fun for more than 4 hour flights. Having to live closer to the next guy than in a japanese elevator.
Elbuda Mexicano
Continental Airlines??? I think they went bankrupt at least 2 or 3 times in the recent past and it was the first airline I used to fly out here to Japan. It was a horrible experience! The flight attendants were all fat, hairy and angry. One of them threw a bunch of bags of peanuts to a passenger for asking too many times for them. Now the have new flat bed seats? Hopefully they will have better flight attendants than the ones I experienced.
CHAMADE
I have a feeling American airline crews tend to adjust their services according to how much respective passengers have paid for their seat, info available on recent manifests.
I have pm a number of occasions seen American crews being very rough and tumble with boisterous Japanese groups, whose confidence and expectations seem to rise in direct parallel to the number of people in their group.
Does flat mean horizontal? Or do the feet end up lower than the torso?
Sarge
"One of them threw a bunch of bags of peanuts to a passenger for asking too many times for them."
I would love to have seen that!
By the way, who are these people who pay 3-5 times more than economy for a business/First Class seat? I'd like to thank them for making it possible for me to fly at a reasonable cost, but we economy class passengers aren't allowed in the business/First Class section...
rainman1
I'm one of thos 'people'. You're welcome.