Houston, TX – Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) is leading a bipartisan group of Members of Congress in support of Continental Airlines’ application to the U.S. Department of Transportation to add daily nonstop flights between Houston and Bogotá, Colombia.

If the application is approved, Continental would become the first-ever United States carrier to provide daily overnight service between the cities. Flights would arrive in each city in the early morning and depart each city late at night.

In the letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, Members of Congress say the new schedule would “benefit business and leisure travelers and shippers in the U.S.-Bogota market who want to arrive via a U.S. airline at the beginning of the work day and depart at the end of the work day.”

The Members also wrote that Houston would be a “superior gateway point” for flights to Colombia because of its location in the middle of the country and the current lack of available flights to South America from the region. One hundred and ten cities would have access to the flights via Continental’s Houston hub.

Continental’s application comes as the Department of Transportation considers how to allocate up to four daily flights to United States carriers between December 2007 and October 2008. Continental plans to begin offering the flights beginning in the summer of 2008 if the application is approved.

Members of Congress who signed the letter were Democratic Reps. Charlie Gonzalez (Texas), Sheila Jackson-Lee (Texas), Nick Lampson (Texas), Solomon Ortiz (Texas), Ciro Rodriguez (Texas), and Al Green (Texas); and Republican Reps. Kevin Brady (Texas), John Culberson (Texas), John Carter (Texas), Charles Boustany (La.), Ted Poe (Texas), Mike McCaul (Texas), and Ron Paul (Texas).