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COPA Airlines to get all clear this week
…Promises not to be fly by night operation
The Panama-based COPA Airlines is this week expected to receive full clearance from civil aviation authorities to begin flying, a senior executive said yesterday.
COPA airlines is currently in the middle of a promotional campaign, as it gets ready to start twice weekly flights from Guyana direct to Panama.
Guillermo Gomez Wilches, Vice President (Sales), said that the airline has entered the Guyana market armed with the data that spells out a profitable market.
He said COPA is not here on a “testing” operation; once COPA enters a market, they “concentrate” on that market to achieve the expected outcomes.
“Every time we open a destination, we concentrate on the destination; and we still operate in those destinations.
“When we are opening a destination, we are not just testing to see how we go; we are sure we are going to do just well and of course, our intention is to remain a long, long time in Guyana,” Wilches told reporters yesterday.
COPA plans to operate twice-weekly direct flights to Panama starting July 11. Wilches told reporters that Guyana was chosen because it opens up to the country’s travelers the vast Latin American space. COPA currently flies to 29 destinations. The direct flights to Panama will allow for easy connections to COPA’s Latin American destinations, and will further allow for easy connections to other international destinations.
“We believe we are going to add value to Guyana,” Wilches stated. Panama itself, which serves as a hub to the rest of Latin America, offers great opportunities for business and leisure, he added.
Guyanese do not need a visa to travel to Panama for a period of up to three months.
The government has said there were no fiscal incentives for the airline to come here. The Airlines and the Ministry of Tourism are engaged in a joint marketing strategy to push travel to Panama.
COPA expects that most Guyanese will use the airline to fly to the US and Canada during the July-August period, and that travel to Latin America will pick up after that.
In addition, Wilches boasted that COPA has had the benefit of years of experience boasted of advanced security arrangements to prevent drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, owing to some customer’s concerns about the promotional flights being offered, Wilches noted that only limited seats are available for the lowest fares advertised, explaining that the price would increase as the cheap fares are sold out. He could not say what percentage of the passenger load was available for the cheapest fare.
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