Panama's COPA Air on Buying Spree
August 27, 2002La Prensa reports that Panama's flag carrier Copa are buying 12 new Boeing 737s.
I thought I read last week that they were in serious debt. Maybe its my slightly dodgy Spanish??
On that subject, we desperately need a Ryan Air in Central America and the Caribbean. A cheap airport in the Miami area would be the ideal hub. Ft. Lauderdale or W. Palm Beach I guess. However Panama, Costa Rica or the Dominican Republic all have the required infrastructure and fairly good locations for it.
Flights can be ridiculously expensive here. A month or two ago I had to fly to San Jose, Costa Rica. I flew Taca the Costa Rican airline. I think it cost me $450 return. The flight was only half full. Irish RyanAir and its competitors such as Go and EasyJet have much more profitable business models than traditional airlines. In reality I think Copa or Taca could convert to that model in less than a year and become seriously profitable. Latin American & Caribbean people travel a lot and would travel even more if there were cheaper flights available.
Comments:
I read that Continental Airlines now owns slightly more than 50% of Copa. Maybe that is why they can now afford the new jets.
Bob
Posted by: Bob Nugent at September 19, 2002 04:39 AM
That is true. But the question is can Continental afford it?
Posted by: Pelle at September 19, 2002 04:47 AM
I do believe that the Latin American routes have remained profitable for most airlines, so I guess it might just be sound investment.
-P
