In the wake of its transition to the Star Alliance as its 25th member, Continental sighed partnership agreements with All Nippon Airlines and Asiana.

Continental Chair and CEO Larry Kellner and Young-Doo Yoon, president and COO of Asiana Airlines, met yesterday in New York to sign the Alliance Agreement, extending cooperation across a variety of areas including code sharing, frequent flyer programs, and lounge access.

Meanshile, Continental Senior Vice President - Corporate Development and Alliances Mark Erwin, and Keisuke Okada, executive vice president - alliances and international affairs of ANA, also met yesterday in New York to sign the Alliance Agreement, extending cooperation across a variety of areas including code sharing, frequent flyer programs, and lounge access.

In addition to the Star Alliance benefits, Continental and Asiana plan to implement code share arrangements starting in December 2009, subject to necessary government approvals. With code share arrangements in place, both airlines plan to offer greater convenience to mutual customers traveling between South Korea and the U.S. and connecting destinations throughout Asia and the Americas. The customers of both airlines will now be able to accrue and redeem mileage on any route operated by either carrier, and the top-tier frequent flyer customers will also have complete access to the lounges of both carriers, as well as other Star Alliance benefits.

Asiana Airlines based in Seoul, Korea, offers 516 daily departures throughout the Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, operating 13 domestic and 81 international passenger routes and 20 cargo routes. Asiana is a member of Star Alliance and was awarded the Five Star Airline designation by SKYTRAX. Asiana was also named Airline of the Year in 2009 by Air Transport World. With world renowned quality service, Asiana carries more than 13 million passengers every year.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is Japan's largest domestic carrier and the tenth largest airline in the world by passenger load, according to IATA rankings, carrying almost 50 million passengers every year to 52 destinations in Japan and 26 cities throughout Asia, Europe and the US on its fleet of 214 aircraft.

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