Continental Airlines has increased capacity on its Dublin/New York route by more than one-third, following the introduction of wide-bodied aircraft.

The use of the Boeing 767-400ER aircraft, which came into use on the Dublin-Newark route yesterday, means there will be a total of 235 seats, an increase of 63, on each flight.

The aircraft will be introduced on Continental's direct service between Shannon and Newark from June 13th.

Commenting on the Shannon stopover regulation, which stipulates that for every flight that lands in Dublin one must land in Shannon, Mr Mike Carter, the airline's senior director for Ireland and the UK, said it affected profitability and the airline hoped that "at some stage, there will be changes".

"We would prefer to be able to set our own frequency and capacity without interference," Mr Carter said, while acknowledging that the stopover was in place before Continental entered the Irish market four years ago.

Even if the situation regarding the Shannon stopover were dropped, Continental expected to continue to operate to both Dublin and Shannon, he said, although he declined to say how frequency on the Shannon route would be affected.

In the four years since it was set up, its Irish service has carried more than 600,000 passengers, Continental said.