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Continental Airlines Reports the Highest Monthly Load Factor in Company History

HOUSTON, September 3, 1998 -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAI.B and CAI.A) today reported a systemwide load factor of 78.1 percent in August, the highest monthly load factor ever in Continental's history.

In August 1998, Continental flew 5.3 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 6.7 billion available seat miles (ASMs). Continental's strategy of growing its underdeveloped hubs in Newark, Houston and Cleveland continues to produce outstanding results. August RPMs grew faster than ASMs, both domestically and internationally as shown below.

Year over year growth:
RPMs             ASMs
Domestic         8.6%             7.5%
International   22.5%            18.4%
Total           13.0%            11.0%

Continental's wholly owned Continental Express subsidiary also reported its highest monthly load factor ever this August of 63.5 percent, up 0.8 points from last year, based on 149.4 million RPMs and 235.5 million ASMs. Continental Express August traffic was up 20.7 percent and August capacity was up 19.2 percent from last year.

PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS

AUGUST                      1998           1997            Change
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)
Domestic              3,430,586      3,159,840       8.6 Percent
International         1,833,361      1,497,000      22.5 Percent
Total Jet             5,263,946      4,656,839      13.0 Percent
Cont'l. Express         149,438        123,764      20.7 Percent
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)
Domestic              4,399,722      4,094,443       7.5 Percent
International         2,336,616      1,972,679      18.4 Percent
Total Jet             6,736,338      6,067,123      11.0 Percent
Cont'l. Express         235,471        197,515      19.2 Percent
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
Domestic           78.0 Percent   77.2 Percent       0.8 Points
International      78.5 Percent   75.9 Percent       2.6 Points
Total Jet          78.1 Percent   76.8 Percent       1.3 Points
Cont'l. Express    63.5 Percent   62.7 Percent       0.8 Points
CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)
Total                     64,889         63,368       2.4 Percent
YEAR-TO-DATE                1998           1997           Change
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)
Domestic             23,919,728     22,228,439       7.6 Percent
International        12,209,001      9,787,520      24.7 Percent
Total Jet            36,128,729     32,015,959      12.8 Percent
Cont'l. Express         988,344        750,353      31.7 Percent
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)
Domestic             32,745,223     30,830,908       6.2 Percent
International        16,719,469     13,510,625      23.8 Percent
Total Jet            49,464,691     44,341,533      11.6 Percent
Cont'l. Express       1,679,690      1,351,667      24.3 Percent
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
Domestic           73.0 Percent   72.1 Percent       0.9 Points
International      73.0 Percent   72.4 Percent       0.6 Points
Total Jet          73.0 Percent   72.2 Percent       0.8 Points
Cont'l. Express    58.8 Percent   55.5 Percent       3.3 Points
CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)
Total                   554,124        455,710      21.6 Percent