Panamania’s Copa Airlines plans for further growth

Copa Airlines presented its expansion road map on April 14, 2023.

The Panamanian airline and Star Alliance member aims to strengthen its role as a connector airline in the Americas region by strengthening both its fleet and its “Hub de Las Américas®” at Tocumen International Airport (PTY), Panama.

Copa Airlines is investing US$2.1B in 15 additional Boeing 737 MAX. These aircraft will be added to a pre-existent order formalized in 2015 and deliveries are expected to take place over the next five years.

Before the end of 2023, Copa Airlines will receive 6 new Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, bringing its fleet to 99 aircraft, all of them Boeing 737s (although including a mix of MAX, -800 and –700 versions).

This year will see also the addition of three new cities to its network, Baltimore (BWI) and Austin (AUS) in the US, and Manta Eloy Alfaro International Airport (MEC), in Ecuador, for a total of 80 destinations across its network.

Copa Airlines is confident it will close the year having carried a total of 16.1M passengers, an 11% increase over the previous year.

The airline is also planning to invest its in-house flight academy and training activities. It plans to modernize its trainer fleet with the acquisition of eight new Diamond DA40/42 aircraft, which it expects will reduce the fuel consumption of its training flights by 50%. And it intends to add a fifth as Boeing 737 MAX simulator as well.