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News Release

Continental Airlines Reports August Performance

HOUSTON, Sept. 4, 2001 -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) today reported an August load factor of 78.1 percent, 1.3 points below last year's August load factor.

Continental's on-time arrival rate was 77.7 percent and its completion factor was 99.2 percent in August. Several severe weather days across the system, especially in the carrier's Newark/New York and Houston hubs, affected August's on-time arrival rate.

In August 2001, Continental flew 6.4 billion revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and 8.1 billion available seat miles (ASMs), resulting in a traffic increase of 4.8 percent and a capacity increase of 6.5 percent versus August 2000. Domestic traffic was 3.9 billion RPMs, up 7.9 percent from August 2000, and domestic capacity was 5.1 billion ASMs, up 7.9 percent from last year.

The decline of Continental's load factor along with a decline in yield in August 2001, as compared to August 2000, resulted in a decrease in estimated systemwide passenger revenue per available seat mile (RASM) of between 12 and 14 percent.

Continental Express, a regional air carrier for Continental Airlines, reported a record August load factor of 66.0 percent, 2.8 points above last August. Continental Express flew 343.5 million RPMs and 520.2 million ASMs in August, resulting in a traffic increase of 26.3 percent and a capacity increase of 20.9 percent versus August 2000.

                           PRELIMINARY TRAFFIC RESULTS
AUGUST                             2001            2000        Change
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)
Domestic                     3,939,656       3,651,502      7.9 Percent
International                2,421,161       2,420,385      0.0 Percent
Transatlantic                1,055,583       1,211,007    (12.8) Percent
Latin America                  777,038         742,551      4.6 Percent
Pacific                        588,540         466,827     26.1 Percent
Total Jet                    6,360,817       6,071,887      4.8 Percent
Cont'l. Express                343,492         271,958     26.3 Percent
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)
Domestic                     5,100,725       4,728,271      7.9 Percent
International                3,044,125       2,918,943      4.3 Percent
Transatlantic                1,322,783       1,398,101     (5.4) Percent
Latin America                  969,046         943,361      2.7 Percent
Pacific                        752,296         577,481     30.3 Percent
Total Jet                    8,144,850       7,647,214      6.5 Percent
Cont'l. Express                520,172         430,400     20.9 Percent
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
Domestic                  77.2 Percent    77.2 Percent       --- Points
International             79.5 Percent    82.9 Percent      (3.4) Points
Transatlantic             79.8 Percent    86.6 Percent      (6.8) Points
Latin America             80.2 Percent    78.7 Percent       1.5 Points
Pacific                   78.2 Percent    80.8 Percent      (2.6) Points
Total Jet                 78.1 Percent    79.4 Percent      (1.3) Points
Cont'l. Express           66.0 Percent    63.2 Percent       2.8 Points
CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)
Total                           77,697          91,277    (14.9) Percent
YEAR-TO-DATE                       2001            2000        Change
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)
Domestic                    27,629,268      26,622,600      3.8 Percent
International               17,136,141      16,976,955      0.9 Percent
Transatlantic                7,564,142       8,150,913     (7.2) Percent
Latin America                5,650,954       5,505,004      2.7 Percent
Pacific                      3,921,045       3,321,038     18.1 Percent
Total Jet                   44,765,409      43,599,555      2.7 Percent
Cont'l. Express              2,345,035       1,908,095     22.9 Percent
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)
Domestic                    37,506,043      35,455,068      5.8 Percent
International               22,889,050      22,023,801      3.9 Percent
Transatlantic                9,809,300      10,147,518     (3.3) Percent
Latin America                7,618,159       7,435,563      2.5 Percent
Pacific                      5,461,591       4,440,720     23.0 Percent
Total Jet                   60,395,093      57,478,869      5.1 Percent
Cont'l. Express              3,708,036       3,027,928     22.5 Percent
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
Domestic                  73.7 Percent    75.1 Percent     (1.4) Points
International             74.9 Percent    77.1 Percent     (2.2) Points
Transatlantic             77.1 Percent    80.3 Percent     (3.2) Points
Latin America             74.2 Percent    74.0 Percent      0.2 Points
Pacific                   71.8 Percent    74.8 Percent     (3.0) Points
Total Jet                 74.1 Percent    75.9 Percent     (1.8) Points
Cont'l. Express           63.2 Percent    63.0 Percent      0.2 Points
CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)
Total                          652,594         717,158    (9.0) Percent
PRELIMINARY OPERATIONAL RESULTS
AUGUST                             2001            2000        Change
On-Time Performance*              77.7%           77.7%        0.0 Points
Completion Factor**               99.2%           99.1%        0.1 Points
YEAR-TO-DATE                       2001            2000        Change
On-Time Performance*              80.9%           77.7%        3.2 Points
Completion Factor**              98.9%            98.7%        0.2 Points
PRELIMINARY RASM CHANGE AND FUEL PRICE
AUGUST 2001 estimated year-over-year RASM change          (12-14) Percent
AUGUST 2001 estimated average price per gallon of fuel,
excluding fuel taxes                                      77 Cents
* Department of Transportation Arrivals within 14 minutes
** System Mileage Completion percentage