Copa Airlines Launches New Costa Rica-Panama Route

Copa Airlines has added Liberia, in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province, to its list of destinations with the launch on 24 June of a new flight from Panama.

The new Tocumen (Panama)-Liberia (Costa Rica) route operates on Sundays and Thursdays, departing Panama at 09:52h and arriving in Liberia at 10:23h.  The return flight departs Liberia at 11:25h and arrives in Panama at 13:58h on both days.  For this route, Copa Airlines uses an Embraer 190 aircraft with capacity for 94 passengers (84 on economy and 10 on business class).

Copa Airlines chose to open this new route to Guanacaste in recognition of the growing popularity of this region as a holiday and adventure tourism destination.  This is Copa Airlines’ second destination in Costa Rica, added to the company’s flights to San Jose, which started in 1967.

With this new route, Guanacaste is now connected to 64 destinations in 29 countries in North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, served by Copa Airlines through their Hub of the Americas in Panama, the largest flight connection centre in Latin America.

Costa Rica’s Tourism Minister, Allan Flores, added that the new flight is a result of the country’s efforts to attract more airlines and target key markets such as South America.  “In 2011, our country received 128,911 South American visitors, which represents an increase of 8.2 percent on the 2010 figures.  We hope that the new route will help boost the number of visitors from South America even further,” Flores said.

In April 2012, Copa Airlines, the Costa Rica Tourist Board (ICT), the Chamber of Tourism of Guanacaste (CATURGUA) and representatives from private tourism businesses in the region hosted the first group of tour operators from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Uruguay as part of the promotion of the new direct flight between Panama and the Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia.

Copa Airlines carried 8.8 million passengers in 2011 and increased its capacity by 21 percent compared to the previous year.  Liberia is one of four new destinations announced by the company at the beginning of this year, together with Recife (Brazil), Las Vegas (USA), and Curacao.