Continental Airlines

Details

Why fly with Continental?

The real appeal of Continental amongst UK-based passengers is the fact that they offer flights to the USA from so many regional airports. No other airline offers as many transatlantic flights to New York -- whether you live in central Scotland, the Cotswolds, or Northern Ireland, there is bound to be an airport nearby from which Continental operate flights.

Why not?

Continental's extensive route network is counterbalanced by the fact that in order to maintain a high frequency of service (during the busy summer period, all of Continental's UK to New York flights operate at least once each day), Continental use the narrow-bodied Boeing 757 jet. This is simply not as comfortable as the larger wide-bodied aircraft which are generally used on flights to the USA from London - although Continental do at least use the larger Boeing 777's on their flights from Gatwick to New York and Houston.
Also, compared with carriers such as British Airways and Virgin, standards of service, especially on board food and in-flight entertainment, are pretty poor. This might not be much of an issue if flying to New York from outside London, because the inconvenience of getting to the capital far outweighs the prospect of mediocre service. If you are trying to reach another city in the US, especially one which has direct flights from another European airport, then the details start to become more relevant. When the hassle of having to clear US customs and immigration at New York (Newark is one of the busiest international entry points to the USA), and then having to recheck your bags to the final destination (you need to go through this process even if you are continuing on to another country outside the USA), is factored into the equation, then the advantage of taking flights with Continental becomes less measured.