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Thursday 07 August
2008, San José, Costa Rica
Copa Airlines Announces
Expansion Plans
Copa Airlines nnounced the
addition of five new
destinations on the American
continent and the acquisition of
aircraft as part of its
expansion plans for 2008. In
addition, the airline emphasized
its support of increasing the
Hub of the Americas' capacity by
adding a new terminal to the
Tocumen International Airport.
With the addition of non-stop
flights from Panama to Belo
Horizonte, Brazil; Oranjestad,
Aruba; Valencia, Venezuela; and
Santa Cruz, Bolivia, as well as
the new service it began to Port
of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
earlier this year, the airline
will operate flights from Panama
to a total of 45 destinations in
its extensive route network
throughout North, Central, and
South America and the Caribbean
by the end of 2008.
"We continue to grow and
strengthen Copa Airlines and
Panama as the best connecting
point for travel within Latin
America," said Pedro Heilbron,
CEO of Copa Airlines. "The new
flights will facilitate
commercial and business
relations between the countries
in our region, increase tourism,
and foster economic
development."
Heilbron stated that the
addition of six new aircraft
this year and the airline's
recent announcement of future
orders will strengthen its
ability to provide world-class
service, with the goal of
continuing to grow Copa's hub
through new destinations and
increased flight frequencies.
"Copa Airlines will close out
the year with a modern and
efficient fleet of 43 aircraft
consisting of 28 Boeing 737 Next
Generation and 15 Embraer jets,
one of the youngest fleets in
the Americas," said Heilbron.
On August 21, Copa will begin
service to Belo Horizonte, the
airline's fourth destination in
Brazil, providing the city with
its first direct connections to
a large number of Latin American
destinations. Continuing with
its expansion efforts, Copa will
initiate flights to Valencia and
Aruba on December 1 and 15,
respectively, serving both
tourism and business passenger
needs. Also, in December Copa
will begin flights to Santa
Cruz, Bolivia, the airline's
fifth new destination in 2008.
From these cities, Copa will
offer immediate connections to
and from the principal cities of
the Caribbean, North, Central
and South America.
Because of the expansion and the
modernization of Tocumen
International Airport,
headquarters of the Hub of the
Americas, Copa Airlines has been
able to expand the number of
destinations and frequency of
flights it offers. The hub's
future growth will be
facilitated by the recent
opening for international
bidding on construction of the
airport's new terminal and
infrastructure, officials
stated.
"The new terminal demonstrates
the national government's
ability to promote its vision
for domestic and international
growth and development," said
Orcila Constable, General
Manager, Tocumen International
Airport. "The new terminal is
key for positioning and
strengthening Tocumen as a
preferred hub world wide, and as
means to facilitate commercial
and tourism activity in the
country."
About Hub of the Americas
The Hub of the Americas offers
passengers an average connection
of 90 minutes through
coordinated itineraries,
reducing total flight time;
check-in luggage transportation
to the passenger's final
destination; and a large variety
of duty free stores. Passengers
affiliated with or traveling in
Business Class are welcome to
use Copa and Continental
Airlines' Presidents Club. |
