United Continental Holdings and ANA Launch Trans-Pacific Joint Venture

CHICAGO and LOS ANGELES, April 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) and ANA today announced the launch of their trans-Pacific joint venture, through which United Airlines and Continental Airlines may coordinate sales and marketing with ANA and improve benefits offered to each airline's frequent flyers.

Through the joint venture, enabled by the U.S.-Japan Open Skies agreement and antitrust immunity granted by U.S. and Japanese regulators, the airlines can align schedules, fares, and terms and conditions for itineraries beginning April 1.

"We are pleased to launch our joint venture with ANA, as it will offer travelers greater choices, convenience and flexibility for their trans-Pacific travels," said Jeff Smisek, president and chief executive officer of United Continental Holdings.

"By forging this closer cooperation with our partner airlines in the Star Alliance, we will significantly enhance our ability to serve trans-Pacific customers and offer new choice and convenience for passengers," said Shinichiro Ito, president and CEO of ANA.

Combining United Continental and ANA Flights for Trans-Pacific Travel

The additional fare and schedule options will offer customers more choices and seamless booking on itineraries that combine U.S. flight segments on United or Continental; trans-Pacific segments on ANA, United or Continental flights; and flights within Japan on ANA.

The trans-Pacific joint venture connects 295 U.S. cities, 43 Japanese cities, and 11 routes between the two countries with nearly 120 flights per week. The carriers also are coordinating fares and schedules for travel to and from certain other points in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.    

Applicable Trans-Pacific Routes

Improved Frequent-Flyer Program Benefits

United Mileage Plus and Continental OnePass frequent-flyer members will now receive the same mileage accrual benefits on ANA that they receive on United and Continental flights. Similarly, ANA Mileage Club members now receive the same mileage accrual benefits on United and Continental as they receive on ANA. Additionally, elite-level members of the United, Continental and ANA frequent-flyer programs can accumulate bonus miles on any United, Continental or ANA flight.

Premium/elite member bonus miles*  

* The bonus miles indicated above will be added to the actual flight mileage.  

* For Japan domestic flights, only the segments which are included in international tickets will be applicable to the harmonized mileage accrual rates.

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 a total of approximately 5,675 flights a day to 372 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 21,000 daily flights to 1,160 airports in 181 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, and follow each company on Twitter and Facebook.

About ANA

Established in 1952, ANA (All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.) is a leading Japanese provider of air transportation services, carrying almost 49 million passengers every year to 49 destinations in Japan and 28 cities throughout Asia, Europe and the US on its fleet of 227 aircraft. It is the tenth largest airline in the world by passenger load, according to IATA rankings, and the largest domestic carrier in Japan. ANA has won awards in all categories for its products and services and was voted Airline of the Year for 2007 by Air Transport World Magazines. ANA is the launch customer of Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Mitsubishi Regional Jet, and joined the Star Alliance in 1999 and celebrated its 10th year Star Alliance membership in October, 2009.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.