Continental Airlines, applying for one China route, called for public support for its bid.

Houston-based Continental wants to fly non-stop from its Newark -- the easternmost point to which one can fly non-stop from Honolulu -- to Shanghai, the most populous city in China.

Continental said that the New York metropolitan area has a much larger ethnic Chinese population than any of the cities that other airlines propose to serve.

Treaties between Beijing and Washington, D.C., limit flight slots between China and the United States. A single group of slots has been applied for by American Airlines, United Airlines and Northwest Airlines as well as Continental. Only one of the four carriers can win.

Each carrier proposes a different route. Northwest also wants to fly to Shanghai, but from Detroit. American and United want to fly to Beijing, but American wants to do it from its headquarters hub at Dallas-Ft. Worth while United wants to fly there from Washington Dulles.

Source:佚名