Inauguration at
La Aurora International Airport in 1980 On June 21, 1944, Panamanian investors joined forces with Pan American World Airways (
Pan Am) to launch , soon known simply by its
acronym, Copa. Pan Am took a 32% stake in the company. Operations started on August 15, 1947, with three
Douglas C-47 aircraft on domestic routes in Panama. The 1960s marked Copa's entry into the international arena, offering flights to Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Colombia. Pan Am divested its stake in Copa in 1971, leaving the airline under Panamanian control. The 1980s saw a strategic shift for Copa as they discontinued domestic flights to focus solely on international travel and acquired its first jet, a
Boeing 737-100. Until the early 1980s, the airline had significant competition from
Air Panamá Internacional, which had a higher profile.
Expansion years Expansion continued during the 1990s, when it began service to
Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Santiago, Chile;
Bogotá, Colombia;
Havana, Cuba;
Guayaquil, Ecuador;
Lima, Peru;
Mexico City, Mexico;
Caracas, Venezuela; and many other important Latin American cities. In 1992, Copa Airlines signed a strategic alliance with
TACA Airlines (now
Avianca El Salvador), and the airline began flying from
Tocumen International Airport, making it the first flight connection center in Latin America. As a result, Tocumen was dubbed the "Hub of the Americas" and several Latin American airlines such as
LACSA of Costa Rica,
Aviateca of Guatemala and
NICA of Nicaragua joined the alliance. The alliance ended in 1998 when the six-year agreement expired. A defining moment arrived in 1998 with a significant investment by
Continental Airlines. That same year, Copa Airlines' CEO
Pedro Heilbron announced on the ALTA airline leaders forum in Cancún that the airline had decided to leave
SkyTeam and were in exclusive talks with
Star Alliance. In 2009, Copa Airlines announced it would withdraw from
SkyTeam on October 24, the same date that partner Continental Airlines left the alliance. The company added two
Boeing 737-800s. and announced a firm order for 13
Boeing 737-800s with the new Boeing signature "Sky Interior". In 2010, Copa Airlines began service to
St. Maarten, received nine
Boeing 737-800s and announced that it would join
Star Alliance in mid-2012 to rejoin old partner Continental Airlines (now United). That same year, Copa Airlines announced a firm order to purchase 32
Boeing 737-800 planes valued at $1.7 billion, thus becoming the largest plane order in the airline's history. The
Boeing 737-800 are set for delivery between 2015 and 2018, with an option to acquire ten additional 737-800 aircraft. In 2011, Copa Airlines began service to
Toronto;
Brasília and
Porto Alegre, Brazil;
Chicago;
Cúcuta,
Colombia;
Montego Bay,
Jamaica;
Monterrey, Mexico and
Asunción,
Paraguay; and
Nassau,
The Bahamas. It also passed from a four bank hub to a six bank hub and increased frequencies to several destinations. . That same year, Copa Airlines launched a mobile version of its website (), giving passengers the chance to get a mobile pass and check flight status and other services. Additionally, the airline announced a new codeshare agreement with
TAME, which became effective in January 2012. Copa Airlines also became the first airline in Latin America to have the new
Boeing 737-800NG Sky Interior with improved performance in its fleet. In 2012, the company announced five new destinations:
Las Vegas, United States;
Recife, Brazil;
Willemstad,
Curaçao;
Liberia, Costa Rica; and
Iquitos, Peru. In June of the same year, Copa Airlines became an official member of Star Alliance along with
AviancaTaca. Copa also increased flight frequencies to several destinations and inaugurated an interline agreement with
Air Panama (Panama's second-largest airline) which consists of the linkage of all tourist destinations in Panama with those in Latin America. The agreement became effective June 1, 2012, when Air Panama began flights from Tocumen airport to Isla Colón, Bocas del Toro. In 2013, Copa increased the frequency to several destinations and included two new destinations in the United States: Boston and Tampa. Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) announced on 10 October 2013, that Copa Airlines placed an order to retrofit some of its existing Boeing Next Generation 737s' blended winglets with APB's new split scimitar winglets, as part of its environmental strategy. The new APB winglet technology will save Copa more than $21 million in jet fuel costs fleetwide and more than 63,000 tons of carbon dioxide outputs per year. In January 2014, Copa Airlines announced three new destinations and revealed its business strategy for the year, which included the delivery of eight new Boeing 737-800 aircraft and the increase of flight frequencies to some destinations. The new destinations are
Montreal, Canada;
Fort Lauderdale, United States and
Georgetown, Guyana. In July, it added
Campinas, Brazil; and
Santa Clara, Cuba. In April 2014, Copa Airlines became the first airline in Latin America and the third in the world to implement the
Split Scimitar Winglets on its Boeing 737NG fleet. In January 2015, the airline achieved a milestone in its history when it re-launched daily domestic flights to
David, Chiriquí, the first ones since the closure of the route three decades earlier. Also, Copa Airlines announced new flights to
Villahermosa and
Puebla, Mexico; and
New Orleans, United States. Three months later, the airline announced another new destination In the U.S:
San Francisco,
California, United States. In July 2015, Copa Airlines announced service to
Belize City which began in December 2015. In April 2015, the airline announced an order for 61 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft worth $6.6 billion at list price. On June 21, 2016, the airline started flights to
Holguín. On June 28, 2016, the airline started flights to
Chiclayo. On July 1, 2016, the airline started flights to
Rosario. In December 2016,
Wingo, a Colombia based low cost airline owned by Copa, began operations. On November 15, 2017, the airline started flights to
Mendoza, Argentina. On December 11, 2017, the airline started flights to
Denver, United States. On January 29, 2018, Copa Airlines announced that it would start flights to
Bridgetown, Barbados on July 17, 2018;
Fortaleza, Brazil on July 18, 2018; and
Salvador da Bahia, Brazil on July 24, 2018. On December 12, 2018, the airline started flights to
Salta, Argentina. On December 16, 2018, the airline started flights to
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. On January 17, 2019, the airline announced flights to
Paramaribo,
Suriname; which commenced on July 6, 2019. On December 2, 2021, the airline started flights to
Armenia,
Colombia. On December 6, 2021, the airline restarted flights to
Cúcuta,
Colombia. On December 12, 2021, the airline started flights to
Atlanta, United States. On June 28, 2022, the airline started flights to
Santa Marta,
Colombia. On June 30, 2022, the airline started flights to
Barcelona, Venezuela. On September 26, 2022, the airline started flights to
Mexico City's new secondary airport,
Felipe Ángeles International Airport. On June 27, 2023, the airline started flights to
Manta, Ecuador. On June 28, 2023, the airline started flights to
Baltimore,
Maryland. On July 6, 2023, the airline started flights to
Austin, Texas. On October 17, 2023, the airline started flights to
Barquisimeto,
Venezuela. On June 21, 2024, the airline started flights to
Raleigh, North Carolina. On June 25, 2024, the airline started flights to
Florianopolis, Brazil. On June 26, 2024, the airline started flights to
Tulum, Mexico. On July 31, 2024, the airline was forced to suspend its flights to
Venezuela in response to the
2024 Venezuelan political crisis. On June 25, 2025, the airline started flights to
San Diego, California. == Corporate affairs ==