From the United States: Taca, Continental, Aviateca, American, Copa, Iberia, Copa, Lacsa, Lloyd, Aero Boliviano.

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Panamanian Copa Airlines has announced that it will begin direct flights to Maracaibo (Venezuela) with six flights a week, starting July 24, 2006. Maracaibo is Venezuela’s second largest city and the capital of the state of Zulia, the most important oil-producing state. This year, the company will also be initiating flight service to Manaus, Brazil, and Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic on July 15; to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on July 24; to Montevideo, Uruguay, on August 15; and in the last quarter of the year, to Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago. “We are pleased to offer our passengers six new destinations and are moving forward with our plans for the airline’s growth in the region,” said Jorge Garcia, Commercial vice president of Copa Airlines. “Passengers will be able to continue making their connections quickly and efficiently to numerous destinations serviced by Copa in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean through our Hub of the Americas in Panama,” he added. “This flight will depart from Panama every day except Friday at 7:58 p.m., arriving in Maracaibo at 10:30 p.m. The return flight will depart Maracaibo every day except Saturday at 8:35 a.m., and will arrive in Panama at 9:15 a.m.”

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Panama, May 10 (Prensa Latina) Panama´s Copa Airlines will make seven more direct flights to Cuba, Cuban Civil Aeronautics Authority (AAP) announced Wednesday. In its release, the AAP said the initiative emerged during the recent bilateral talks in Havana, and will be implemented as soon as possible. The source noted Cuba has agreed to increase weekly Panama City-Havana flights from 14 to 21, given the high demand of the route. The idea will become reality once the two sides write the corresponding diplomatic notes, AAP indicated.

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Copa Airlines have announced the beginning of direct flights to the city of Rio de Janeiro, starting November 15. “With the addition of flights to the city of Rio de Janeiro, Copa Airlines continues to strengthen its position in the region and the success of our Hub of the Americas, the main hub in Latin America for both business and leisure travelers,” said Jorge Garcia Icaza, Commercial Vice President of Copa Airlines. “This new flight provides more direct connections between this major Brazilian city and North America, Central America and the Caribbean,” he added. Copa will operate Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft on the new route. The flight, to be operated five times a week, will depart from Panama City at 19:11 and arrive in Rio de Janeiro at 04:02 the following morning. Copa Airlines offers services to other destinations in Brazil, including a twice-daily service to Sao Paulo and since July 2006, a daily direct flight to Manaus. In addition to the new Brazilian destinations of Manaus and Rio, Copa began flights to four other cities in Latin America between July and August of this year: Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic; Maracaibo, Venezuela; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and Montevideo, Uruguay.

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check out this cool little graph of the growth of the world’s shipping fleet since 1948, based on the Lloyds of London ship registry.

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Panamanian airline Copa is making a big bet: You’re tired of waiting around in overrun airports for long flights home.

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KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will start direct flights between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Panama City Tocumen Airport in summer 2008. Panama City will be KLM’s 62nd intercontinental destination. Effective March 30, 2008 KLM will operate three weekly non-stop flights between Amsterdam and this destination in Central America. The new KLM flight will be operated with Mc Donnell Douglas MD-11 equipment, offering a total of 294 seats; 24 in World Business Class and 270 in Economy Class. Flight KL757 will depart from Amsterdam on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 13:30 hours and will be landing in Panama City at 17:40 hours the same day. Return flight KL758 will depart from Panama City Tocumen Airport on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 19:35 hours, to arrive on Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at 13:10 hours the next day. (more)

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(Source: Prensa) Commercial flight traffic to the Tocumen International Airport increased 16.2% to 20,075 flights, moving 1,534,922 people in the first six months of 2006, 14.9% more than the same period last year. March was the month of greater growth. The statistics were presented/displayed yesterday in the forum “Panama… Aerial Hub of the Américas”, organized by the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture of Panama. According to passenger data 521,310 people passed through Panama in transit to their final destination, 507,262 people arrived in Panama, and 506,350 departed. Most of the passengers come from the North and South America, a total of 937,039 people. But arriving passengers from Europe grew 33%. The increase in European traffic is a result of increased flight traffic from Air Madrid and Iberia that operate routes with stops in Panama. The other region of growth is the Caribbean, 143,895 passengers in the last six months, up 23% from last year. Copa’s Hub of the Americas has generated a 21.1% growth in traffic from South America. Cargo and air freight traffic through the airport reached 39,054 metric tons in 4,044 flights, a drop of 17.5% which was mostly due to a change in accounting practices. Starting this year cargo in transit being transported by Copa Airlines was dropped from the report.

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AeroRepublica, subsidiary of Copa Holdings S.A. , began direct daily service from Cali to Panama City on February 14, 2006.
This new route is served with one of AeroRepublica’s brand new EMBRAER-190 aircraft with a 106 all-leather seat, single-class configuration. AeroRepublica’s flight schedule is the following: Route Frequency Departure Arrival Cali - Panama Daily 5:10 p.m. 6:30 p.m. Panama - Cali Daily 11:20 a.m. 12:40 p.m. “This flight will give Cali, a city of more than two million inhabitants, a much needed afternoon non-stop daily flight to Panama, plus instant access to the Americas through international connectivity with Copa Airlines’ network of 36 destinations in 21 countries in North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean,” said Roberto Junguito, President, AeroRepublica. “This again reaffirms our commitment to offer our passengers the most convenient way to travel, all enhanced with a superior product offering.”

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Copa Airlines, subsidiary of Copa Holdings S.A. , took delivery on August 9th of a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, increasing its fleet to 33 aircraft. Copa’s fleet, one of the youngest in the Americas, now consists of 25 Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft and eight EMBRAER 190s. The Boeing 737-800 is the largest airplane in Copa’s fleet, configured for 155 passengers — 14 in Executive Class and 141 in the main cabin. The comfortable aircraft has a spacious interior, large overhead luggage compartments, seats with adjustable headrests, and a 12-channel audio/video entertainment system. Copa will operate the Boeing aircraft on long-distance routes between its Hub of the Americas in Panama and various Latin American and U.S. destinations. (more)

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