Our History
Copa Airlines was established in 1947 as the primary and national airline in Panama. It began with domestic flights to three cities in Panama, in Douglas DC-3 / C47 aircraft. By 1966, the airline could proudly show off with three weekly flights to San Jose Costa Rica, which was their first international destination. In 1969, the first AVRO 748 was introduced for flights to Kingston in Jamaica, Managua in Nicaragua and Barranquilla in Colombia. In the 1970s, Medellin, Cartagena, San Salvador and Guatemala became part of the expanded network of destination cities.
1980
In 1980, the airline withdrew from the domestic market to focus on what they could achieve internationally. This year, the Boeing 737-100 was added to the fleet. During this decade, the airline expanded its network of destinations to include Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, San Juan in Puerto Rico and Miami in the United States.
1992
In 1992, they began using the first Panamanian headquarters for aircraft connected to Latin America, which created the HUB OF THE AMERICAS at Tocumen International Airport. Flights were added to Caracas in Venezuela, Mexico City, Santiago in Chile, Cali and Bogota in Colombia, Quito and Guayaquil in Equador, Lima in Peru, Buenos Aires in Argentina and Havana in Cuba.
1998
In 1998, a strategic alliance was formed with Continental Airlines, and in 1999, the airline launched its new brand, Copa Airlines, and launched the OnePass® loyalty program. At the same time, they began upgrading their fleet with Boeing 737 Next Generation airplanes.
2000
The strategy from 2000 and onwards was to focus on expanding in this area. In 2005, the airline began flying to Cancun in Mexico, Sao Paulo in Brazil, San Andres in Colombia, Tegucigalpa in Honduras and Orlando, Los Angeles and New York in the United States.
2005
In 2005, Copa Airlines, a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, began. S.A, to trade on the New York Stock Exchange, and became the third Latin American airline to be listed.
2006
In 2006, they added the destinations: Cordoba In Argentina, Guadalajara In Mexico, Washington D.C. In the US and Punta Cana In The Dominican Republic. At the same time, the frequency of their flights increased at seven destinations.
2008
In 2008, they began using flights to Port-of-Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, and Belo Horizonte in Brazil, while announcing new destinations such as Santa Cruz in Bolivia, Valencia in Venezuela and Aruba. Copa Airlines continued to add destinations, upgrading their modern fleet with Boeing 737-700 and 737-800 airplanes and Embraer 190 airplanes.
2009
In 2009, an orderof 15 airplanes to be delivered between 2010 and 2015 was announces. And an additional to purchase 8 airplanes that would be delivered between 2015 and 2017. The new airplane would be equipped with the distinctive Boeing Sky Interior design.
2010
Copa Airlines starts flying to the island of St. Maarten and announces that Aero Repúnlica will use the name of Copa Airlines Columbia. On top of that, Copa Airlines announces that they are in the process of becoming part of the Star Alliance. Copa Airlines and Boeing announce their acquisition of 32 Next Generation 737-800 airplanes, which include 10 flight options, for a total of about US $ 2.6 billion. It was the biggest order in history, on flying machines, for Copa Airlines.
2012
In 2012, Copa Airlines announces the new MileagePlus loyalty program with United Airlines and in June they formally became part of the airline's global network, Star Alliance. Here they started flight operations to Las Vegas, Recife, Curazao, Guanacaste and Iquitos.
2013
They start traveling to Boston and Tampax, and receive the SkyTrax award for the Best Airline in Central America and Caribbean and the Airline with the best cabin crew and airport staff in Central America and Caribbean. They end the year with a fleet of 90 airplanes.
2014
They begin flying to five new cities: Georgetown, Guyana; Fort Lauderdale, United States; Montreal, Canada; Santa Clara, Cuba; and Campinas, Brazil. They end the year with 98 airplanes. They were also recognized as "Mexico and Central America's Leading Airline" by the World Travel Awards.
