United-Continental unit Continental Airlines has completed installation of new flat-bed seats in the "BusinessFirst" cabins of its 41-strong fleet of Boeing 757-200s.

The newly-retrofitted 757-200s principally operate between Continental's New York Newark hub and Europe. The carrier completed a retrofit of the same type of flat-bed seats on 22 Boeing 777s in December 2010.

United, meanwhile, finished retrofitting its Boeing 747-400 and international 767-300 aircraft with flat-bed seats in its premium cabins in 2009. The 10th United 777 to be outfitted with flat-bed seats in both first- and business-class is scheduled to enter service in April.

"With reconfigurations completed on 116 aircraft, United and Continental together offer more flat-bed premium cabin seats than any other US airline," says United senior vice president of marketing Mark Bergsrud. He notes that "advanced audio/video on-demand" in-flight entertainment systems are offered as part of the carriers' premium products. United and Continental offer Panasonic IFE.

In addition to the reconfiguration of the international fleet, United plans to expand "Economy Plus" seating to all Continental aircraft beginning in 2012, as previously announced.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news