A Continental Airlines Boeing 777 has had to make an emergency landing at Newark Liberty International Airport after the pilot died at the controls.The two co-pilots managed to land the plane safely without any reported harm to the 247 passengers, who were on the flight from Brussels to New York.

In response to reduced call volumes caused by a customer shift towards Web self-service and the global economic recession, Continental Airlines has decided to eliminate approximately 500 positions in its Reservations department and close its Tampa Reservations Centre.

Continental Airlines is to resume daily, non-stop seasonal services between its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and Athens, Greece,

Quova, Inc., the leading provider of Internet geolocation data services, today announced that Continental Airlines, is using Quova’s IP geolocation data to localise Web content and promotions and streamline its online sales process. Knowing the geographic location that Web visitors are logging in from has enabled Continental to more efficiently connect new and existing customers in 56 countries to relevant deals and discounts.  In the six months that Continental has been working with Quova, it has improved click-through rates of homepage banners by as much as 200 percent.

Continental Airlines says it is carrying out a biofuel test flight using algae as a fuel source. The flight will occur at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, at 11:15am on 7 January. The aircraft will be a Boeing 737-800 equipped with CFM International CFM56-7B engines, and the biofuel mix used will be sourced from feedstocks including jatropha and algae.

Continental Airlines has introduced new first-class menus on flights throughout the United States, Canada and to select Latin American and Caribbean destinations.