A host of dancers and musicians awaited us at the gate
Fernando Fondevila, Copa's Regional Manager
Joanne Lundy and Carly Braden of Discover the World Marketing, Copa's distribution arm in Canada
Always a thrill to see the sign for the first time!
It’s always kind of exciting when an airline launches a new route. But imagine the level of excitement at the headquarters of Panamanian carrier COPA – launching four new routes in one month – now that’s an achievement!
So it was all good news at Terminal 1 last Friday when a hundred dignitaries, travel industry honchos, government authorities, top agents and Panamanians (my those Panamanian ladies are beautifully turned out) were on hand to enjoy a little music, a little dancing and a lot of interesting info about Copa.
Not only has the carrier launched four new routes (Toronto, Nassau and two to Brazil, all from Panama City, which it dubs The Hub of The Americas), it enjoys a 90 per cent on time factor and last year carried 5.2 million passengers. It’s an all Boeing 737 carrier (112 in economy and 12 in business) which offers complimentary meals, wines and audiovisual entertainment.
And guess what? The loads for the new route to Toronto are already at 90 per cent, thanks to a steady stream of vacationers, VFR and – a surprise to me – business travellers.
“We offer more flights than any other hub in Latin America,” explained Fernando Fondevila, the COPA Regional Manager. “And we look forward to being a part of Star Alliance by mid-2012.”
And if Copa’s looking to fill those remaining seats on the Panama City-Toronto run, they might want to heed the advice of one of the security guards at Pearson. “I think they should print the staff phone numbers on their name badges,” she told me. “Man, those are the best looking airline crew I’ve ever seen!”
