American company Continental Airlines announced that it has received tentative approval from the Department of Transportation (DOT) to operate daily year-round service between its Houston hub at Bush Intercontinental Airport and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and through flight service between New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro beginning summer 2009, pending final government approvals.
"Continental is delighted to receive tentative authority for this route, which links two important energy markets," said Jeff Smisek, Continental's president and chief operating officer. "We thank our co-workers and our corporate and agency clients, as well as the many federal, state and local officials who wrote letters in support of the application.Â
"We also are grateful to the City of Houston and Houston Airport System and the City of New Orleans and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, which filed exhibits in support of Continental's route proposal."
Continental plans to operate the daily service using a Boeing 767-200 aircraft, with 25 seats in BusinessFirst and 149 seats in economy. The proposed nonstop flight will be timed to offer convenient flight connections at Continental's Houston hub to cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The airline currently operates daily nonstop service between Continental's New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and São Paulo's Guarulhos International Airport and between Houston and São Paulo, with continuing service to Rio de Janeiro.
Continental Airlines, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is the world's fifth largest airline. Together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, the company has more than 2,800 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 135 domestic and 132 international destinations.
Gol Gets Capital Increase
Brazilian airline Gol has approved a capital increase of the Company in the amount of 203,531,031.60 reais and the issuance of 26,093,722 shares, comprising 6,606,366 common shares and 19,487,356 preferred shares.
The issuance price to common and preferred shares is fixed in 7.80 reais per share, according to the quotation of the shares in the São Paulo Stock Exchange on March 20, 2009, verified after the closing of the trading session.
The issuance price is equivalent to 90.9% of the average closing price of the preferred shares during the last 30 trading sessions, which was 8.58 reais, and to 83.2% of the average closing price during the last 60 trading sessions, which was 9.37 reais.
Gol offers nearly 800 daily flights to 49 destinations connecting the most important cities in Brazil and ten major destinations in South America. The Company operates a fleet of Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft.
