US-based United Airlines and Continental¹ Airlines have agreed a deal to merge², creating the world's biggest carrier.

美国联合航空公司与大陆航空公司已达成并购协议，组建世界上最大的航空公司。

The new planes will fly under the United Airlines name

The loss-making companies said they expected the deal, worth $3.2bn (£2.1bn), to deliver savings³ of more than $1bn a year.

The combined group will be named United Airlines.

But new branding will combine the current Continental colours with the United Airlines name.

After the deal was announced shares of both firms rose in morning trading in New York.

United's parent UAL Corporation saw its shares rise by 51 cents, or 2.37%, to close in New York at $22.11, while Continental shares were up 51 cents, or 2.28%, to $22.86.

Although United is seen as the dominant⁴ partner, the merger⁵ was described as "a merger of equals".

Together United and Continental currently fly to 370 destinations worldwide, flying 144 million passengers a year.

Combining the two companies will create the world's biggest airline, based on the total number of passenger-miles flown.

Continental's boss Jeff Smisek will be chief executive of the new company based in Chicago, while United Airlines' Glenn Tilton will serve as the non-executive chairman.

Mr Tilton called the deal "great... for our customers, our employees, our shareholders⁶ and our communities（社区，群体） ".

Cuts expected

"We are creating a stronger, more efficient airline, both operationally and financially, better positioned to succeed in a dynamic（动力的，动态的） and highly competitive global aviation industry（航空工业） ," he said.

The companies did not give any details on potential job cuts, but said they expected front-line employees to be "minimally⁷ affected⁸ by the merger", with staff reductions coming from retirements⁹ and voluntary redundancy（冗余，裁员） .

The two companies currently employ a total of 86,000 people.

Analysts¹⁰ expect redundancies to form part of the merger, with airlines anxious to cut costs following a recent collapse¹¹ in profits within the industry.

Chief executive Jeff Sismek said some cost-savings would come from getting the most out of aircraft and sharing IT services.

They also hope that the better choice of routes will be attractive to sought-after business customers.