This fall, United's international premium cabins will begin a remarkable transformation, featuring the first 180-degree, lie-flat business class seat to be offered by a U.S. airline.

Once the entire modification is complete in late 2009, customers can expect consistent, lie-flat seating in United First and United Business across the carrier's entire international fleet of 97 widebody Boeing 767, 747 and 777 aircraft.

"The new international business class seat places United in a class by itself compared to what our U.S. competitors are offering in business class and lifts United into a more competitive position with European and Asian carriers," says Graham Atkinson, United's executive vice president and chief customer officer. "Today's announcement is evidence of our commitment to delivering an experience that makes our most valued guests feel more relaxed and rewarded." Visit suitedreams.united.com for more detailed information.

The seat will recline to a 180-degree 6-foot 4-inch lie-flat bed and is designed to provide customers ultimate comfort, with more features, space and personalization options. With a unique, forward- and rear-facing seat configuration, customers will find every inch tailored to maximize personal space and privacy.

The new international United Business seat is up to 23.5 inches wide and adjusts to a wide range of positions. Each seat offers audio and video on-demand for viewing more than 150 hours of movies and TV programs. At 15.4 inches, the video screen is three times larger than United's previous business class monitor and better equipped to display games, children's programming, audio books and other learning programs.

The new international United Business seating will offer 20 channels of stored XM-branded audio. Guests can also create customized playlists using 30 channels of other stored audio. Additionally, an Apple iPod adapter enables customers to play personalized content on the in-flight entertainment system. Both the entertainment system navigation controls and some content will be offered in up to 14 languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Dutch, Arabic and Italian.

Other international United Business seat amenities include:

• Four-way lumbar support and six-way adjustable headrest
• An ottoman providing additional stowage for a laptop or other items
• Ergonomically designed tray table that comfortably accommodates a laptop and other personal items
• USB port to charge personal electronic devices, such as personal digital assistants, mobile phones and digital cameras
• Standard 110v power outlets requiring no adapter
• Adjustable LED reading light with dimmer
• Noise-canceling headphones

United will run advertisements in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Financial Times and other national publications. An online presence has also been secured on the home pages of WSJ.com, MSN.com, CNN.com and Washingtonpost.com, among others. In addition, United will also run a 15-second spot on the NASDAQ tower in Times Square every hour from July 23 through August 5.

More information, including images, is available at suitedreams.united.com.

For more detail on the inspired, world-class cuisine to be offered onboard, see the NewsReal dated July 13, 2007.