Continental Airlines has announced plans to introduce a new service between Heathrow Airport and Houston in the USA next year.

Scheduled to coincide with the coming into effect of the open skies pact, the new route will see non-stop flights operate between the two destinations twice a day from March 29th 2008.

The carrier currently operates a route between Gatwick Airport and Houston - as does British Airways - and this new service will increase its flights between London and the Texan city by 50 per cent.

"At last we will be able to give our customers something they have long requested - the opportunity to fly to both London's main airports with their preferred airline," commented Larry Kellner, chairman and chief executive of Continental Airlines.

The news is the latest in a long line of announcements by airlines planning to up their transatlantic offerings ahead of the enforcement of the Europe-USA agreement.

UK airline bmi recently announced plans to boost its services to Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco and Denver next year as part of a codeshare agreement with United Airlines.

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