Less than a month before this Routes Americas conference Panamanian carrier Copa Airlines revealed plans to further expand its network from its Panama City Tocumen International Airport hub. The addition of services in June 2012 to Recife, Brazil; Liberia (Guanacaste) Costa Rica; Las Vegas, Nev.; and the island of Curacao will expand its network to 63 destinations in 29 countries in North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.
This latest stage in the network development of the fast-expanding carrier marked the completion of discussions that commenced at last year’s Routes Americas forum in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The airline confirms that direct negotiations and contacts for the services to Curacao, Las Vegas and Liberia were made during the event.
Over the last year Copa has seen significant growth across its network with passenger numbers up 20 per cent in 2011 to 8.8 million. This year it will add a further ten Boeing 737-800s to its fleet and will also become a full member of the Star Alliance grouping from April 2012.
"Our sustained growth in the past few years has reinforced our position as the leading Latin American provider of passenger and cargo services and made an impact on the business and tourism development of Panama and Latin America," said Pedro Heilbron, Chief Executive Officer, Copa Airlines. "We have opened doors to important key markets in the region with connectivity to 59 cities in the Americas."
The first of the new routes to launch will be to Curacao which will be served on a four times weekly basis from June 10, 2012. The Panama City – Recife service will be added from June 23, 2012 on a four times weekly schedule. The link to the capital of the state of Pernambuco will be Copa's first in the northern region of Brazil and its seventh destination across the country.
The new twice weekly connection to Liberia (Guanacaste) in Costa Rica will begin from June 24, 2012 and will be the first jet service to this major tourist area from Latin America and Copa's second destination in Costa Rica. Las Vegas will follow from June 27, 2012 and will be operated on a four times weekly basis and will afford the first direct connecting service from Las Vegas to Central and South America.
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