FLEET - Copa Airlines pushes MAX 8 EIS to mid-3Q24

Copa Airlines (CM, Panamá City Tocumen International) has delayed its inaugural B737-8 flight by six weeks, to August 15, 2024, ch-aviation research has revealed.

The ch-aviation schedules module shows the Panamanian carrier plans to deploy the type on eight routes from Panamá City Tocumen International namely:

Asuncion (5x weekly starting August 15);

Lima International (8x weekly starting August 15);

San José Juan Santamaría (3x weekly starting August 15);

Bogotá (1x weekly starting August 16);

Guatemala City (2x weekly starting August 16);

Havana International (4x weekly starting August 16);

San Pedro Sula (1x weekly starting August 17); and

Rosario Islas Malvinas (3x weekly starting August 18).

ch-aviation has asked Copa Airlines for comment.

At the end of 2023, the Panamanian carrier expected to add three B737-9s and twelve B737-8s in 2024 but to date has not taken on a single plane, stating that Boeing's delivery delays were "partly due to increased regulatory scrutiny and quality lapses at key suppliers.”

In the fourth quarter of 2023's financial results, parent entity Copa Holdings’s chief executive, Pedro Heilbron, said the B737 MAX delivery delays would reduce the company’s estimated capacity growth for the coming year to approximately 10% from the original expectation of between 12% to 14%.

Overall, Copa has firm orders for 57 MAX to be delivered between 2024 and 2028. These new airframes will allow the company to transition to a new-gen fleet by retiring its B737-700s in 2028 and reducing its B737-800s from 68 in 2024 to 43 in 2030. In the meantime, the MAX will increase from 38 projected in 2024 to a maximum of 86 in 2029.

Copa Holdings closed 2024 with a fleet of 106 aircraft, operated by Copa Airlines and sisters Wingo (Colombia) and Wingo (Panama).

CH Aviation

Photo: Duncan Stewart