Copa Holdings, S.A. is a publicly traded Panamanian
airline holding company based in
Panama City
Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
that owns two airlines: Panama-based
Copa Airlines
Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., branded as Copa Airlines, is the flag carrier of Panama. It is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with its main hub at Tocumen International Airport. Copa is a subsidiary of Copa Holdings and a member o ...
and Colombia-based AeroRepública (operating as
Copa Airlines Colombia and
Wingo). The company is a major provider of passenger and cargo air services in
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
, operating out of its base at
Tocumen International Airport, which is located near the border between
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, which the company sees as a strategically important location.
History
In 1947, Panamanian investors joined forces with Pan American World Airways (
Pan Am
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...
) to launch , soon known simply as Copa.
Initially, Copa served domestic routes in Panama with just three
Douglas C-47
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...
aircraft. 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. In 1986, ownership transitioned to or CIASA.
A defining moment arrived in 1998 with a significant investment by
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Continen ...
.
This led to the formation of Copa Holdings, a holding company for Copa Airlines, with CIASA retaining a majority stake (51%). Continental's investment also included a strategic alliance, fostering code-sharing, marketing initiatives, and technical collaboration. Since then, Copa's fleet has grown significantly, boasting 97 aircraft .
Copa Holdings went public on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
in 2005. Continental gradually reduced its ownership, eventually exiting entirely by 2008. CIASA also decreased its holdings, though it remains a significant shareholder (27.8% ).
Expansion continued in 2005 with Copa Holdings acquiring a controlling interest (later reaching 99.9%) in AeroRepública, the second largest carrier in Colombia in terms of passengers carried, and rebranded it as
Copa Airlines Colombia. This move was further bolstered by AeroRepública launching
Wingo, a
low-cost airline
A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...
brand established in December 2016 to diversify its offerings and better compete with other carriers from Colombia.
See also
*
References
External links
{{Authority control
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Airline holding companies of the United States
Companies based in Panama City