CHICAGO, Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings (NYSE: UAL), today announced it is now offering Economy Plus seating on all long-haul international Boeing 757-200 flights, offering economy customers the option of six inches of extra legroom.

With the reconfiguration, the aircraft have 16 flat-bed seats in BusinessFirst, 45 seats in Economy Plus and 108 in Economy. The 757-200 reconfiguration project, which began in late November, outfits those aircraft with 1,845 Economy Plus seats.

The 41 aircraft principally operate between New York/Newark and Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Birmingham, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Lima, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Manchester, Oslo, Paris, Shannon, Stockholm and Stuttgart, and between Washington/Dulles and Amsterdam and Paris.

"For many years, the Boeing 757 has enabled year-round service in long-haul international markets where customer demand doesn't support the use of larger aircraft, and has allowed us to offer multiple daily flights between larger markets," said Jim Compton, United's executive vice president and chief revenue officer. "Customers have long enjoyed the convenience. With Economy Plus, they now have a new choice in economy-cabin comfort as well."

Customers with premier status in United's MileagePlus and OnePass frequent-flyer programs may confirm complimentary seat assignments in Economy Plus, when available. Customers may purchase Economy Plus seating, when available, online at united.com and continental.com, with a reservations agent, or at the airport.

United introduced Economy Plus in 1999. Today, the company offers the extra-legroom seating on more than 400 mainline aircraft and more than 150 regional jets. When fully deployed, United will offer customers more extra-legroom economy class seats than any airline in the world.

Other Product Investments
In addition to the expansion of Economy Plus seating, United continues to invest in onboard improvements:

United has recently modified 28 three-cabin Boeing 777-200 aircraft with new premium cabins, offering flat-bed seats and audio and video on demand, as well as larger video screens and power ports in United Economy. United plans to modify 18 more Boeing 777 aircraft in the next year. United's 23 Boeing 747-400, 21 three-cabin B767-300, 22 two-cabin B777-200 and 41 international B757-200 aircraft are already equipped with new premium cabins. One Boeing 767-400 aircraft now features new premium-cabin flat-bed seats, Economy Plus seating and audio and video on demand. The airline will similarly modify 11 additional B767-400 aircraft and 14 B767-300 aircraft. When completed, United will offer more flat-bed seats than any airline in the world. The airline will begin expanding the overhead bins in its 152 Airbus aircraft, increasing the available carryon-bag storage space by approximately two-thirds. United will install satellite-enabled inflight Internet service on its aircraft beginning later in 2012.

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 an average of 5,656 flights a day to 376 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 more than 21,000 daily flights to 1,290 airports in 189 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 or follow United on Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.