The story
Inauguration
On June 21, 1944, Panamanian investors joined forces with Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) to launch Compañía Panameña de Aviación (Spanish for 'Panamanian Aviation Company'), soon known simply by its acronym, Copa. Pan Am took a 32% stake in the company. Operations started on August 15, 1947, with three Douglas C-47 aircraft on domestic routes in Panama. The 1960s marked Copa's entry into the international arena, offering flights to Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Colombia. Pan Am divested its stake in Copa in 1971, leaving the airline under Panamanian control.
The 1980s saw a strategic shift for Copa as they discontinued domestic flights to focus solely on international travel and acquired its first jet, a Boeing 737-100. Until the early 1980s, the airline had significant competition from Air Panamá Internacional, which had a higher profile.
Expansion years
Expansion continued during the 1990s, when it began service to Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; Bogotá, Colombia; Havana, Cuba; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Lima, Peru; Mexico City, Mexico; Caracas, Venezuela; and many other important Latin American cities.
In 1992, Copa Airlines signed a strategic alliance with TACA Airlines (now Avianca El Salvador), and the airline began flying from Tocumen International Airport, making it the first flight connection center in Latin America. As a result, Tocumen was dubbed the "Hub of the Americas" and several Latin American airlines such as LACSA of Costa Rica, Aviateca of Guatemala and NICA of Nicaragua joined the alliance. The alliance ended in 1998 when the six-year agreement expired.
A defining moment arrived in 1998 with a significant investment by Continental Airlines. This led to the formation of Copa Holdings, a holding company for Copa Airlines, which was 49% owned by Continental. The investment also included a strategic alliance, fostering code-sharing, marketing initiatives, and technical collaboration. Since then, Copa's fleet has grown significantly, boasting 97 aircraft as of 2023. Copa has adopted a livery and corporate logo similar to Continental's (now United). Copa participated in the OnePass frequent flyer program until Continental's merger with United Airlines. Continental gradually reduced its ownership, eventually exiting entirely by 2008.
In 2000, Copa Airlines inaugurated service to Los Angeles, Cancún, and Orlando, as well as to São Paulo; in 2001, it began service to Quito, Ecuador. In 2004, it began service to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Copa also announced in August of that year a codeshare agreement with Mexico's Mexicana de Aviación, which lasted until 2007.
On June 1, 2005, Copa Airlines acquired 90% of the Colombian domestic air carrier AeroRepública, having earlier announced a codeshare plan with the carrier. Copa rebranded AeroRepública to Copa Airlines Colombia in 2010, increased destinations and modernized the fleet. On December 15, 2005, parent company Copa Holdings, S.A., launched an IPO of 14 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange thus becoming the fourth Latin American airline to be traded on the exchange, after LAN Airlines of Chile and Brazilian carriers Gol Transportes Aéreos and TAM Airlines.
In 2006, Copa Airlines began service to six new destinations: Manaus, Brazil; Maracaibo, Venezuela; Montevideo, Uruguay; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. In addition, Copa Airlines took delivery of six Embraer 190s and two Boeing 737s. In 2007, Copa Airlines added services to Córdoba, Argentina; Guadalajara, Mexico; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; and Washington, D.C. Copa Airlines added four Embraer 190s and two Boeing 737s (-800 series). That same year, the airline joined the SkyTeam alliance as an associate member.
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During 2008, Copa Airlines added five new destinations and received four Embraer 190s and one Boeing 737-800. The new destinations are Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Valencia, Venezuela; Oranjestad, Aruba; and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. In May 2008, Continental Airlines sold its remaining 4.38 million shares of Copa Airlines for $35.75 a share, yielding a net profit of approximately $149.8 million.
That same year, Copa Airlines' CEO Pedro Heilbron announced on the ALTA airline leaders forum in Cancún that the airline had decided to leave SkyTeam and were in exclusive talks with Star Alliance.
In 2009, Copa Airlines announced it would withdraw from SkyTeam on October 24, the same date that partner Continental Airlines left the alliance. The company added two Boeing 737-800s. and announced a firm order for 13 Boeing 737-800s with the new Boeing signature "Sky Interior".
In 2010, Copa Airlines began service to St. Maarten, received nine Boeing 737-800s and announced that it would join Star Alliance in mid-2012 to rejoin old partner Continental Airlines (now United). That same year, Copa Airlines announced a firm order to purchase 32 Boeing 737-800 planes valued at $1.7 billion, thus becoming the largest plane order in the airline's history. The Boeing 737-800 are set for delivery between 2015 and 2018, with an option to acquire ten additional 737-800 aircraft.
In 2011, Copa Airlines began service to Toronto; Brasília and Porto Alegre, Brazil; Chicago; Cúcuta, Colombia; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Monterrey, Mexico and Asunción, Paraguay; and Nassau, The Bahamas. It also passed from a four bank hub to a six bank hub and increased frequencies to several destinations.
That same year, Copa Airlines launched a mobile version of its website (m.copaair.com), giving passengers the chance to get a mobile pass and check flight status and other services. Additionally, the airline announced a new codeshare agreement with TAME, which became effective in January 2012. Copa Airlines also became the first airline in Latin America to have the new Boeing 737-800NG Sky Interior with improved performance in its fleet.
In 2012, the company announced five new destinations: Las Vegas, United States; Recife, Brazil; Willemstad, Curaçao; Liberia, Costa Rica; and Iquitos, Peru. In June of the same year, Copa Airlines became an official member of Star Alliance along with AviancaTaca.
Copa also increased flight frequencies to several destinations and inaugurated an interline agreement with Air Panama (Panama's second-largest airline) which consists of the linkage of all tourist destinations in Panama with those in Latin America. The agreement became effective June 1, 2012, when Air Panama began flights from Tocumen airport to Isla Colón, Bocas del Toro.
In 2013, Copa increased the frequency to several destinations and included two new destinations in the United States: Boston and Tampa.
Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) announced on 10 October 2013, that Copa Airlines placed an order to retrofit some of its existing Boeing Next Generation 737s' blended winglets with APB's new split scimitar winglets, as part of its environmental strategy. The new APB winglet technology will save Copa more than $21 million in jet fuel costs fleetwide and more than 63,000 tons of carbon dioxide CO2 outputs per year.
In January 2014, Copa Airlines announced three new destinations and revealed its business strategy for the year, which included the delivery of eight new Boeing 737-800 aircraft and the increase of flight frequencies to some destinations. The new destinations are Montreal, Canada; Fort Lauderdale, United States and Georgetown, Guyana. In July, it added Campinas, Brazil; and Santa Clara, Cuba. In April 2014, Copa Airlines became the first airline in Latin America and the third in the world to implement the Split Scimitar Winglets on its Boeing 737NG fleet.
In January 2015, the airline achieved a milestone in its history when it re-launched daily domestic flights to David, Chiriquí, the first ones since the closure of the route three decades earlier. Also, Copa Airlines announced new flights to Villahermosa and Puebla, Mexico; and New Orleans, United States. Three months later, the airline announced another new destination In the U.S: San Francisco, California, United States. In July 2015, Copa Airlines announced service to Belize City which began in December 2015.
In April 2015, the airline announced an order for 61 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft worth $6.6 billion at list price.
On June 21, 2016, the airline started flights to Holguín. On June 28, 2016, the airline started flights to Chiclayo. On July 1, 2016, the airline started flights to Rosario.
In December 2016, Wingo, a Colombia based low cost airline owned by Copa, began operations.
On November 15, 2017, the airline started flights to Mendoza, Argentina. On December 11, 2017, the airline started flights to Denver, United States.
On January 29, 2018, Copa Airlines announced that it would start flights to Bridgetown, Barbados on July 17, 2018; Fortaleza, Brazil on July 18, 2018; and Salvador da Bahia, Brazil on July 24, 2018.
On December 12, 2018, the airline started flights to Salta, Argentina. On December 16, 2018, the airline started flights to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
On January 17, 2019, the airline announced flights to Paramaribo, Suriname; which commenced on July 6, 2019.
On December 2, 2021, the airline started flights to Armenia, Colombia. On December 6, 2021, the airline restarted flights to Cúcuta, Colombia. On December 12, 2021, the airline started flights to Atlanta, United States.
On June 28, 2022, the airline started flights to Santa Marta, Colombia. On June 30, 2022, the airline started flights to Barcelona, Venezuela. On September 26, 2022, the airline started flights to Mexico City's new secondary airport, Felipe Ángeles International Airport.
On June 27, 2023, the airline started flights to Manta, Ecuador. On June 28, 2023, the airline started flights to Baltimore, Maryland. On July 6, 2023, the airline started flights to Austin, Texas. On October 17, 2023, the airline started flights to Barquisimeto, Venezuela. On June 21, 2024, the airline started flights to Raleigh, North Carolina. On June 25, 2024, the airline started flights to Florianopolis, Brazil. On June 26, 2024, the airline started flights to Tulum, Mexico.
On July 31, 2024, the airline was forced to suspend its flights to Venezuela in response to the 2024 Venezuelan political crisis.
On June 25, 2025, the airline started flights to San Diego, California.
From Wikipedia’s article on Copa Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4