Continental plans big expansion at Cleveland

Continental Airlines said it intends to increase its capacity at Cleveland Hopkins Airport by 40 percent over the next two years, part of a long-term growth plan that was inspired in part by the State of Ohio’s offer of an incentive package worth some $16 million in grants from various state programs. The airline has already started growing at Cleveland, boosting capacity this year by 10 to 45 percent on routes from CLE to San Francisco, Orlando, Seattle and Los Angeles. It also started new service from Cleveland to Quebec City earlier this summer, and later in September will debut new routes to Oklahoma City and Ottawa.


In 2008, Continental said, it will add 27 new flights out of Cleveland to 12 new non-stop destinations, most of them with two or three flights a day using regional jets. In March it will begin service to Greensboro, N.C.; Omaha, Neb. and Savannah, Ga. In April, new routes will include Birmingham, Ala.; Charleston, S.C.; Green Bay, Wis.; and Tulsa, Okla. In May, Continental will start flying from Cleveland to Little Rock, Ark.; Memphis, Tenn., and Lansing, Mich. And in June, service will start to Des Moines, Iowa and Kalamazoo, Mich. Continental had already announced plans to begin its second transatlantic route out of Cleveland next year – Paris CDG, with seasonal service beginning May 22. It already offers CLE-London Gatwick service. By June 2008, Continental said, it will have 300 flights a day out of Cleveland, up from 242 this summer. A third phase of expansion will come in 2009, with more new destinations and additional capacity in existing markets, but Continental won’t announce those plans until next year.