SJOtoLIR wrote:

IB doesn’t supply a good connectivity on linking Germany and Costa Rica as compared to AF network.

So I figure. For example, IB didn't restart service to HAM until like 2 years ago, and even then, you arrive in the early evening in MAD. Search for IB 3271, it departs daily from HAM at 15:05 hrs and arrives in MAD at 18:15 hrs. So you overnight and catch IB 6315, departing at 11:35 hrs the following day.

AF-KL on the other hand, they fly multiple flights a day each. On my return to SJO December 2016, I took the first KL flight of the day out of HAM, which departed at around 06:15 hrs and connected directly with my flight to PTY about 5 hours after having departed HAM. KL in HAM flies mostly 73Gs now, operated for Cityhopper, while AF flies A32x as mainline, not to mention the bigger airports like FRA, MUC, etc which probably get mostly A320s and A321s from AF and bigger 737s from KL. Even LH (starting late March) is far more convenient, as they still fly mainline HAM-FRA multiple times a day. And don't get me started on flying HAM-ZRH to connect on WK.

So nowadays, connecting to Central America has become far more convenient than just relying on IB. If you're more into connecting into the rest of the Central America, you just fly to PTY and take advantage of whatever codeshare is offered with CM. Otherwise, if you want to reach just SJO, you can go via PTY or even nonstop with AF (yearround), KL (seasonal) and LH Group (yearround on WK and soon LH), without having to overnight in CDG, AMS, ZRH or FRA respetively. Flying IB departing out of Germany is not only inconvenient as far as connections are concerned, last time I checked, their fares to SJO would've set me back over 2000 Euros in Y. So I'm hoping this new competition will not only reduce fares but also give passengers more options into the region.

I'm not mentioning BA because you'd have the problem of having to switch airports. If at least PTY was launched and flown via LHR (which certainly isn't a far fetched possibility), it would be a whole different story, but I don't think using BA to connect to SJO is very convenient unless you intend on flying via the US (e.g. via DFW, MIA or in general through a codeshare with AA), because LON-SJO is operated via LGW and most of their Euro flights go exclusively to LHR. So overall, flying on IAG Group to connect nonstop to Central America isn't really the most convenient way for someone departing out of Germany unless you want to spend a few nights in Madrid or London.

How is Managua doing at this time, in terms of weekly frequencies and equipment ?

CM PTY-MGA: 7x 738 + 7x E90
AA MIA-MGA: 22x, 738
AV SAL-MGA-MIA: 7x, 320/321
AV SAL-MGA: 7x, AT7
5D/AM MEX-MGA: 14x, E70
UA IAH-MGA: 15x, 738
AV GUA-MGA: 7x, AT7
CM SJO-MGA: 14x, 738
NK FLL-MGA: 7x, 321/320
AA DFW-MGA: 1x, 738
DL ATL-MGA: 7x, 320
CM GUA-MGA: E90, 7x

Regards.

Copa increasing capacity at St. Maarten:

Copa Airlines plans St. Maarten capacity increase from June 2018
CM134 PTY0724 – 1134SXM 738 x345
CM133 SXM1224 – 1446PTY 738 x345

https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/ai ... june-2018/

Kilgen wrote:

Copa increasing capacity at St. Maarten:

CM PTY-SXM was suspended since the Hurricane Irma, in September 2017.
The service could have started again in January 2018, but the Panamanian airline suddenly changed their former plans.
We’re now reading that their flights will resume in June as 4x weekly with 738.

Regards.

AV SAL-MEX will bear the All Nippon Airways designator in such route:

TA/AV 432.....SAL 19:50.......MEX 22:15.....Daily.......320
TA/AV 431.....MEX 16:50......MEX 19:00.....Daily.......320

TA SAL-MEX and vice versa will be properly timed to allow connections to Japan as shown:

NH 179....MEX 01:00......NRT 06:35+1......Daily........788
NH 180....NRT 16:40.......MEX 13:55.........Daily........788
Effective: February 12.

Regards.

Proposed schedule on CM PTY-BGI new service:

CM 260...PTY 09.30...14.00 BGI...Tu, Fr...E90
CM 261....BGI 15.00....17.30 PTY...Tu, FR..E90
Effective: July 17th.

Regards.

SJOtoLIR wrote:

Proposed schedule on CM PTY-BGI new service:

CM 260...PTY 09.30...14.00 BGI...Tu, Fr...E90
CM 261....BGI 15.00....17.30 PTY...Tu, FR..E90
Effective: July 17th.

Regards.

This service was annouced just on time for me. I'm moving to Bridgetown in July for work and I was looking at the easiest way of getting there for the past few months.

Though I thought that CM was retiring all the E190's. Will they remain in service for longer now?

aldrigsomandre wrote:

SJOtoLIR wrote:

Proposed schedule on CM PTY-BGI new service:

CM 260...PTY 09.30...14.00 BGI...Tu, Fr...E90
CM 261....BGI 15.00....17.30 PTY...Tu, FR..E90
Effective: July 17th.

Regards.

This service was annouced just on time for me. I'm moving to Bridgetown in July for work and I was looking at the easiest way of getting there for the past few months.

Though I thought that CM was retiring all the E190's. Will they remain in service for longer now?

The E190's will stay on the fleet until 2020.

tommyarias wrote:

aldrigsomandre wrote:

SJOtoLIR wrote:

Proposed schedule on CM PTY-BGI new service:

CM 260...PTY 09.30...14.00 BGI...Tu, Fr...E90
CM 261....BGI 15.00....17.30 PTY...Tu, FR..E90
Effective: July 17th.

Regards.

This service was annouced just on time for me. I'm moving to Bridgetown in July for work and I was looking at the easiest way of getting there for the past few months.

Though I thought that CM was retiring all the E190's. Will they remain in service for longer now?

The E190's will stay on the fleet until 2020.

Thank you for the clarification. I thought that the retirement was going to be faster.

I would really hope that CM gets the E2 or the C Series. While I can appreciate the desire ton only have one type of aircraft, they do need something a bit smaller in Capacity to use on their smaller markets. The C Series is perfect.

yellowtail wrote:

I would really hope that CM gets the E2 or the C Series. While I can appreciate the desire ton only have one type of aircraft, they do need something a bit smaller in Capacity to use on their smaller markets. The C Series is perfect.

Well no Boeing 737-600MAX (or B737MAX combi) so the smaller CM could get is the B737-700MAX, great range but too big of an aircraft to fly on the current E190 routes or new routes where less capacity is required.

2travel2know2 wrote:

yellowtail wrote:

I would really hope that CM gets the E2 or the C Series. While I can appreciate the desire ton only have one type of aircraft, they do need something a bit smaller in Capacity to use on their smaller markets. The C Series is perfect.

Well no Boeing 737-600MAX (or B737MAX combi) so the smaller CM could get is the B737-700MAX, great range but too big of an aircraft to fly on the current E190 routes or new routes where less capacity is required.

There's been rumours that CM is talking to Bombardier for the C Series for Wingo. CM is not getting the MAX 7, there's an order for 61 MAX 8, 9 and 10 (46 will be MAX 8 and 9, 15 will be MAX 10). CM is slowly shutting down P5's Copa Airlines Colombia brand and replacing it with the Wingo brand. Maybe the plan is to replace the CM's E190 and other regional destinations with Wingo (Which they have already slowly start doing) and CM keep the destinations that can be operated with B737s.

tommyarias wrote:

2travel2know2 wrote:

yellowtail wrote:

I would really hope that CM gets the E2 or the C Series. While I can appreciate the desire ton only have one type of aircraft, they do need something a bit smaller in Capacity to use on their smaller markets. The C Series is perfect.

Well no Boeing 737-600MAX (or B737MAX combi) so the smaller CM could get is the B737-700MAX, great range but too big of an aircraft to fly on the current E190 routes or new routes where less capacity is required.

There's been rumours that CM is talking to Bombardier for the C Series for Wingo. CM is not getting the MAX 7, there's an order for 61 MAX 8, 9 and 10 (46 will be MAX 8 and 9, 15 will be MAX 10). CM is slowly shutting down P5's Copa Airlines Colombia brand and replacing it with the Wingo brand. Maybe the plan is to replace the CM's E190 and other regional destinations with Wingo (Which they have already slowly start doing) and CM keep the destinations that can be operated with B737s.

I wonder if CM will try to do with Bombardier and Canada, the same thing they did with Embraer and Brazil.

The bilateral with Brazil was very limited, until CM decided that they were going to buy the E190, then suddenly the Brazilian Bilateral got renegotiated to an open skies agreement. The current bilateral with Canada is really restrictive. I wonder if buying 20 CS100 (close to $1.6 billion at list price) will change the Canadian Government's mind and they will negotiate an open skies agreement with Panama?

But then again, with Boeing potentially doing a JV with Embraer, makes it interesting to see what is going to happen. Will CM stick with Embraer and replace the E190 with the E190-2 or will they buy some CS100 (if it helps persuade the Canadian Government, so that they can get more frequencies to Canada). But then again, lately CM has not been very happy with the E190.

Also, CM is getting 71 B737 Max, at least according to his CEO: https://twitter.com/PedroHeilbron/statu ... 1475138560
From previous news, 15 are B737 Max 10, and from the investors slides, at least 15 are B737 Max 9s. And from information from https://www.copaair.com/en/web/us/copa-showpass-faq, it looks like they will have wifi entertainment streaming (but not internet access. See FAQ 12 and 14).

Kilgen wrote:

tommyarias wrote:

2travel2know2 wrote:

Well no Boeing 737-600MAX (or B737MAX combi) so the smaller CM could get is the B737-700MAX, great range but too big of an aircraft to fly on the current E190 routes or new routes where less capacity is required.

There's been rumours that CM is talking to Bombardier for the C Series for Wingo. CM is not getting the MAX 7, there's an order for 61 MAX 8, 9 and 10 (46 will be MAX 8 and 9, 15 will be MAX 10). CM is slowly shutting down P5's Copa Airlines Colombia brand and replacing it with the Wingo brand. Maybe the plan is to replace the CM's E190 and other regional destinations with Wingo (Which they have already slowly start doing) and CM keep the destinations that can be operated with B737s.

I wonder if CM will try to do with Bombardier and Canada, the same thing they did with Embraer and Brazil.

The bilateral with Brazil was very limited, until CM decided that they were going to buy the E190, then suddenly the Brazilian Bilateral got renegotiated to an open skies agreement. The current bilateral with Canada is really restrictive. I wonder if buying 20 CS100 (close to $1.6 billion at list price) will change the Canadian Government's mind and they will negotiate an open skies agreement with Panama?

But then again, with Boeing potentially doing a JV with Embraer, makes it interesting to see what is going to happen. Will CM stick with Embraer and replace the E190 with the E190-2 or will they buy some CS100 (if it helps persuade the Canadian Government, so that they can get more frequencies to Canada). But then again, lately CM has not been very happy with the E190.

Also, CM is getting 71 B737 Max, at least according to his CEO: https://twitter.com/PedroHeilbron/statu ... 1475138560
From previous news, 15 are B737 Max 10, and from the investors slides, at least 15 are B737 Max 9s. And from information from https://www.copaair.com/en/web/us/copa-showpass-faq, it looks like they will have wifi entertainment streaming (but not internet access. See FAQ 12 and 14).

The new IFE is called "Copa Showpass" which is available on the Copa Airlines' app and is accessed on the "Copa Intranet" on board of every aircraft delivered in 2018 onwards, but there's no info if the only aircraft delivered so far this year, HP-1856CMP, offers the "Copa Intranet".

Kilgen wrote:

I wonder if CM will try to do with Bombardier and Canada, the same thing they did with Embraer and Brazil.

The bilateral with Brazil was very limited, until CM decided that they were going to buy the E190, then suddenly the Brazilian Bilateral got renegotiated to an open skies agreement. The current bilateral with Canada is really restrictive. I wonder if buying 20 CS100 (close to $1.6 billion at list price) will change the Canadian Government's mind and they will negotiate an open skies agreement with Panama?

But then again, with Boeing potentially doing a JV with Embraer, makes it interesting to see what is going to happen. Will CM stick with Embraer and replace the E190 with the E190-2 or will they buy some CS100 (if it helps persuade the Canadian Government, so that they can get more frequencies to Canada).

IMHO, CM will still need more frequencies to Brazil than to Canada, and buying Bombardier for the sake of starting double daily to YYZ (even if AC already shares that route with CM) and YUL plus being able to open YYC and YVR (both must be flown with MAX) makes no sense.
When it comes to CM adding extra frequencies to Canada, I've no clue if the current bilateral allows CM to fly and openly market seasonal scheduled charters between PTY and YYZ/YUL.

But then again, lately CM has not been very happy with the E190.

Perhaps CM should have bought B737-600 instead of the E190 after all?
But if CM buying Embraer really allowed CM to expand that way in Brazil, it was actually a good expenditure.

Kilgen wrote:

The bilateral with Brazil was very limited, until CM decided that they were going to buy the E190, then suddenly the Brazilian Bilateral got renegotiated to an open skies agreement.

I cannot understand the lack of any Brazilian carrier flying to Panama City nowadays.
Neither LATAM or Gol are desmonstrating any interest in Panama City.
CM on the other side is offering a bunch of flights to several stations in Brazil and more to come soon.

Regards.

SJOtoLIR wrote:

Kilgen wrote:

The bilateral with Brazil was very limited, until CM decided that they were going to buy the E190, then suddenly the Brazilian Bilateral got renegotiated to an open skies agreement.

I cannot understand the lack of any Brazilian carrier flying to Panama City nowadays.
Neither LATAM or Gol are desmonstrating any interest in Panama City.
CM on the other side is offering a bunch of flights to several stations in Brazil and more to come soon.

Regards.

One thing to keep in mind is that CM not only aggregates passengers from Brazil that are heading to North America, Central America and the Caribbean, but it also aggregates passengers from North America, Central America, North of South America and the Caribbean that are going to Brazil. Thus CM can feed all those destinations in Brazil and reliable fill planes in both directions. But in the other hand, although Brazilians may go to PTY to go shopping, maybe there isn't enough O-D passengers to fill several weekly frequencies to PTY and compete with CM or they may be thinking that CM may be able to drastically lower the ticket prices to drive competition away from PTY (due to CM healthy margins).

Gol doesn't need to fly to PTY, as it has code share agreements with CM. With Latam why they don't go to PTY, is a big question. Sometimes it looks like Latam and Copa have a sort of non aggression pact or something similar, as CM only flies to SCL in Chile.

CM released its 4Q17 results: http://investor.shareholder.com/copa/re ... ID=1058264

Just a few highlights:

• Copa Holdings reported net income of US$100.8 million for 4Q17 as compared to net income of US$90.5 million in 4Q16.
• For full year 2017, net income reached US$370.0 million, compared to a net income of US$334.5 million in 2016.
• For full year 2017, the Company reported operating income of US$440.1 million, representing an increase of 59% over operating income of US$276.1 million for full year 2016.
• Operating margin for full year 2017 came in at 17.4%, compared to an operating margin of 12.4% in 2016.
• Total revenues for 4Q17 increased 12.4% to US$675.6 million. Yield per passenger mile increased 1.2% to 12.9 cents and RASM came in at 11.1 cents, or 2.9% above 4Q16.
• Operating cost per available seat mile (CASM) decreased 4.2%, from 9.5 cents in 4Q16 to 9.1 cents in 4Q17. CASM excluding fuel costs decreased 6.7% from 6.9 cents in 4Q16 to 6.5 cents in 4Q17
• Load Factor: 83.2% (2017) vs 80.4% (2016) or an increase of 2.8 p.p.
• Average Aircraft Utilization (Hours): 11.4 (2017) vs 10.6 (2018) or an increase of 7.9%

Kilgen wrote:

One thing to keep in mind is that CM not only aggregates passengers from Brazil that are heading to North America, Central America and the Caribbean, but it also aggregates passengers from North America, Central America, North of South America and the Caribbean that are going to Brazil.

It’s a good point of view.
On the other hand, CM PTY-GRU is up to 6x daily sometimes and actually bearing the G3 designator in that bulky market.
If GRU-PTY is the stellar segment connecting Panama and Brazil nowadays, I even find strange the lack of any Brazilian carrier at PTY.
Gol doesn’t fly to both Lima and Bogota anymore, where Latam already flies both LIM-GRU and BOG-GRU solidly. However, this is not the case for Panama City, where neither LA nor G3 wouldn’t dare to launch GRU-PTY by means of its own metal.

Regards.

SJOtoLIR wrote:

If GRU-PTY is the stellar segment connecting Panama and Brazil nowadays, I even find strange the lack of any Brazilian carrier at PTY.
Gol doesn’t fly to both Lima and Bogota anymore, where Latam already flies both LIM-GRU and BOG-GRU solidly. However, this is not the case for Panama City, where neither LA nor G3 wouldn’t dare to launch GRU-PTY by means of its own metal.

G3 has an inferior product than CM, it chances for success on GRU-PTY would be very limited, but not on GRU-BLB/RIH as a LCC-like airline.
IMHO, if there're no BEL/CGB-PTY, those might be routes G3 w/ its configuration could easily add to CM PTY hub.

Southwest converted WN BWI-SJO 7x weekly flight into Saturday-only service.

https://www.crhoy.com/nacionales/autori ... irregular/

I'm posting this here because it does concern aviation in Central America. As it turns out, Coopesa is in hot waters with DGME, after immigration police, along with officials from CCSS (Social Security) and officials from the Labour Ministry found that 47 illegal aliens were found working for Coopesa. They were paid salaries between 420 and 1300 dollars a week and are Mexican, Guatemalans, Venezuelans and Salvadorans. They all entered the country under a tourist visa, with no papers that even include a file with a request for a permanent work permit for each (which makes them de-facto illegal). Their passports have been seized and they now have to report to DGME offices to either regularise their immigration status, or voluntarily leave the country (either way, they could still face deportation).

The inspection came amid complaints about Coopesa using illegal workers (which means tax evasion and Social Security evasion). They now face a fine of up to 5 million Colones (which is around 8,750 Dollars per current exchange rate), depending on the severity of the offense.

Especially evading paying Social Security as an employer is considered a big no-no in this country. Your name will become public if you're caught. So, how could this impact Coopesa in the long run? Cheating on the state is probably not good advertising for them, so it will hurt them. Nevertheless, I wouldn't rule out any further legal consequences for them, even with that ridiculously low fine they are facing (not to mention that cooperative institutions in this country have acquired a very bad rep after the Infocoop embezzlement scandal became public).

Speaking about Coopesa at SJO, some older posts in this series talked that the maintence building would be later located close to the head of runway 07, due to the expansion plans of the main terminal building at SJO.
Time passes and nothing is happening lately.
The new international airport in Orotina as substitution of SJO and the upcoming leisure airport placed in Sierpe de Osa are likely following the same fatidic way.

Regards.

https://www.crhoy.com/nacionales/coopes ... alaciones/

Now Coopesa claims that they hired these people through other companies and that those companies are working to get their immigration status in order.

Basically, Coopesa says it's not their fault, that they hired those workers through a contractor and that it's not their responsibility to ensure their immigration status is in order. Somehow, I don't buy that for a second because it still doesn't explain why that alleged contractor hired people who had nothing but a tourist visa, not even as much as a temporary work permit while residency applications were checked by DGME, therefore evading payment of taxes (where applicable) and social security fees, exposing themselves (even Coopesa) to back payment of CCSS fees (with interests), a fine by DGME and possibly even legal action for human trafficking. If this is true, then Coopesa has been working sloppy.

Also, and I know I shouldn't trust anything that is posted on social media, but I did see people on Facebook stating that they were fired, so their positions could be filled by those foreign workers. We're gonna have to follow this story more closely because, as always, there's more than meets the eye.

RE: COOPESA
Perhaps, thanks to that ilegal workers incident, now it's time for SJO to blackmail its relocation to LIR ?
SJO desperately needs more room to expand, Coopesa being there really stops that airport growth.
And on the subject of SJO, LIR and a new airport for SJO; Wouldn't be better to keep SJO and invest in a 6 lane motorway between Valle Central (Alajuela, San José, Heredia, Cartago, et al) and LIR?
The day travel time between SJO and LIR becomes 2 hours, then one airport would really complement the other.

A six lane motorway between the Central Valley and LIR is probably difficult to construct, not just because of the topography going up north, but also because of lack of political will, as well as corruption and sheer incompetence. There was a project to rebuild the Ruta 1 between Alajuela and San Ramón, which was to be under concession. That project fell through after the government got forced to rescind the contract. There was just too much public outrage because of what they feared to be an exorbitantly high highway toll, plus irregularities with the contractor OAS (and this was in the Chinchilla Miranda administration). Remember OAS (and I don't mean the Organisation of American States)?? That's right, they're part of Odebrecht, the Lava Jato scandal in Brazil and in other Latin American countries.

Public works can be very complicated. Yes, if there is a political will, things can go quickly, but sometimes, it's just difficult to get things done. The Circumvalación hasn't been completed in decades, then there's the danger of severing fibre cables when the highway to Limón gets expanded, a recent scandal that forced a project to the docks in Moín to become even more expensive because of how the route was planned and at the very last minute, those plans had to be changed. Then let's not forget the issue with the bridge over the Virilla river on the road to the airport (aka La Platina), which took them almost ten years to fix and only now did they decide to rebuild the bridge, and even the Ruta 1856 (aka trocha fronteriza) which itself is a scandal (not just because of the ongoing border disputes with Nicaragua, but also because of sloppy government planning).

You see, getting public works done in Costa Rica is complicated, especially if you want them done right.

LTU932 wrote:

You see, getting public works done in Costa Rica is complicated, especially if you want them done right.

Sorry for the off-topic comment, but the construction of the new Sixaola River Bridge between Panamá and Costa Rica on the Caribbean side is in limbo right now too.

BTW, I wish something would be done about CHX and BOC airports. In some developed country, a road with a bridge linking an island so close to mainland would be built and a larger airport would take care of the population on both sides of the strait.

2travel2know2 wrote:

LTU932 wrote:

You see, getting public works done in Costa Rica is complicated, especially if you want them done right.

Sorry for the off-topic comment, but the construction of the new Sixaola River Bridge between Panamá and Costa Rica on the Caribbean side is in limbo right now too.

Yes, and that current border bridge is a complete liability. I would have expected better, given the great relationship Costa Rica has with Panama since many decades. Unless you want people to risk their lives crossing the Sixaola river, or reroute them through the already jam packed border checkpoint in Paso Canoas (where you also have large lines of trucks parked, waiting to clear customs) just to get to Bocas del Toro, that new bridge needs to be built now.

2travel2know2 wrote:

BTW, I wish something would be done about CHX and BOC airports. In some developed country, a road with a bridge linking an island so close to mainland would be built and a larger airport would take care of the population on both sides of the strait.

Having one airport for those 2 small cities would be a smart idea, but to connect the mainland with Isla Colón, you would need a brand new 16 km road from Almirante, or a 14 km road that connects to the road between Finca 2 and Finca 1 (Just outside of Changuinola) to Punta Cauro, all over protected the wetlands of San San-Pond Sak, then a 2 km bridge to Playa Boca del Drago (which would destroy the tourism to the beach), then fix the 16 km of road to Bocas. On top of that, build an airport, probably in San San-Pond Sak. You can also do 2 set of 6 km bridges from Almirante to Isla Cristóbal and then to Bocas, or a 12 km tunnel from Almirante to Bocas.

What Panama really needs is more competition. Air Panama's prices are stupidly high for domestic routes. It's cheaper to fly to Colombia than to Changuinola or Bocas. A domestic low cost wouldn't hurt either.

Today there was a press conference in Guatemala from Inguat and Wamos Air.
This are the most important information.
-3500 pax flew between Madrid and Guatemala in 2017 on Wamos.
-Average stay time was 12 days.
-Each tourist spend an average of $75.00 daily.
-It will stay 1 weekly flight.
-This season will start on May and end on November.
-Passengers will be able to book flights between Varadero and Guatemala also, not only Madrid.
-They did not mention what airplane will the used, hoping for them to operate with 747

Regards.

tommyarias wrote:

Having one airport for those 2 small cities would be a smart idea, but to connect the mainland with Isla Colón, you would need a brand new 16 km road from Almirante, or a 14 km road that connects to the road between Finca 2 and Finca 1 (Just outside of Changuinola) to Punta Cauro, all over protected the wetlands of San San-Pond Sak, then a 2 km bridge to Playa Boca del Drago (which would destroy the tourism to the beach), then fix the 16 km of road to Bocas. On top of that, build an airport, probably in San San-Pond Sak. You can also do 2 set of 6 km bridges from Almirante to Isla Cristóbal and then to Bocas, or a 12 km tunnel from Almirante to Bocas.

What I'd suggest is major road improvements including that 2Km bridge and actually expand CHX with a longer runway. And BTW having an attractive bridge right there wouldn't necessarily end tourism to a beach.

What Panama really needs is more competition. Air Panama's prices are stupidly high for domestic routes. It's cheaper to fly to Colombia than to Changuinola or Bocas. A domestic low cost wouldn't hurt either.

Totally agree. And most likely people wont't see CM flying PTY - CHX/BOC. Could BOC even handle an E190?

Every country in the world has remote areas from the capital city where the traveling time by means of small planes are more affordable than driving from downtown, especially for leisure purposes.
The investment driven in the development of premium highways seems to be very expensive and unnecessary.
I would list some regional cases:

Belize: Punta Gorda.
Guatemala: Puerto Barrios.
El Salvador: N/A.
Honduras: Copan.
Nicaragua: Bluefields.
Costa Rica: Bahía Drake.
Panama: Changuinola.

Regards.

juanchito wrote:

Today there was a press conference in Guatemala from Inguat and Wamos Air.
This are the most important information.
-3500 pax flew between Madrid and Guatemala in 2017 on Wamos.
-Average stay time was 12 days.
-Each tourist spend an average of $75.00 daily.
-It will stay 1 weekly flight.
-This season will start on May and end on November.
-Passengers will be able to book flights between Varadero and Guatemala also, not only Madrid.
-They did not mention what airplane will the used, hoping for them to operate with 747

Regards.

Flight will be operated by a 747-400

Juanchito

KL AMS-PTY 7x weekly, 772 all the way. No more 772 [5x weekly] plus 77W [2x weekly]. Effective: October 28.

AV SAL-BZE 7x weekly, AT7 all the way. No more 320s.

4O MEX-SJO 14x weekly, 320 all the way. No more Sukhoi SuperJet 100.

https://ameliarueda.com/nota/renovacion ... nature-air

It appears it wasn't enough for 5C to have the government lift their suspension, because there is another problem that keeps them grounded: The renewal of their insurance. Negotiations between them and insurer JLT in London are dragging, 5C has lost US$2 million in revenue, and 20 more employees were laid off by the company due to their economic problems (a 25% reduction in staff)..

SJOtoLIR wrote:

KL AMS-PTY 7x weekly, 772 all the way. No more 772 [5x weekly] plus 77W [2x weekly]. Effective: October 28.

AV SAL-BZE 7x weekly, AT7 all the way. No more 320s.

4O MEX-SJO 14x weekly, 320 all the way. No more Sukhoi SuperJet 100.

on KL @ PTY .....KL's SJO-AMS is probably hurting this flight a little, hence some capacity discipline on AMS-PTY

on AV @ BZE. This is the end of an era. TA used to fly 762s on this route and it was up to 3Xday, albeit the flights were doing SAL-BZE-MIA/MSY/IAH. CM is also hurting them on latin connections. It also hasn't been 320s for a while, was mostly a mix of E-jet and 319

yellowtail wrote:

SJOtoLIR wrote:

on AV @ BZE. This is the end of an era. TA used to fly 762s on this route and it was up to 3Xday, albeit the flights were doing SAL-BZE-MIA/MSY/IAH. CM is also hurting them on latin connections. It also hasn't been 320s for a while, was mostly a mix of E-jet and 319

I flew to GUA-FRS-BZE today on TAG (we flew on a King300 because of overbooking, no Saab S340 and E110 where available) and Tropic (On a Caravan), great experience.

Speaking of Volaris Costa Rica (Q6) they will start CUN-SAL-CUN on 3/29 twice a week service. TIJ frequency from SAL is coming down from 3 to 2 and LAX is increasing from 2 to 3. SAL will have 4 flights per day (except Sat) and in some days 5 daily departures. Nice growth in one year. The third aircraft should join the fleet in the next few days (N501VL)

http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/si ... tal-routes

Sichuan Airlines plans to open five intercontinental routes this year as the Chengdu-based carrier accelerates its international expansion pace.

Chairman Li Haiying told Chinese local media that the five routes, all originating from Chengdu, will go to Zurich, Copenhagen, Boston, Cairo and Tel Aviv. They have all received regulatory approval and expect to launch beginning in May.

In addition, Sichuan is also considering opening a new intercontinental route to Panama. “We haven’t fully decided [whether to open Panama route] and this Panama route still needs verification,” Li said.

tommyarias wrote:

http://atwonline.com/airports-routes/sichuan-airlines-launch-five-intercontinental-routes

Sichuan Airlines plans to open five intercontinental routes this year as the Chengdu-based carrier accelerates its international expansion pace.

Chairman Li Haiying told Chinese local media that the five routes, all originating from Chengdu, will go to Zurich, Copenhagen, Boston, Cairo and Tel Aviv. They have all received regulatory approval and expect to launch beginning in May.

In addition, Sichuan is also considering opening a new intercontinental route to Panama. “We haven’t fully decided [whether to open Panama route] and this Panama route still needs verification,” Li said.

For PTY, among Chinese airlines, it's actually Star Alliance Shenzhen Airlines who'd make more sense, But it doesn't do intercontinental (yet).

I apologise if this has been asked before but has it been confirmed that China Airlines will get 5th freedom on IAH-PTY and will CM put its code on the flight?

yellowtail wrote:

I apologise if this has been asked before but has it been confirmed that China Airlines will get 5th freedom on IAH-PTY and will CM put its code on the flight?

Official application was sent on Feb 5th. No decision yet.

yellowtail wrote:

I apologise if this has been asked before but has it been confirmed that China Airlines will get 5th freedom on IAH-PTY and will CM put its code on the flight?

Don't you mean Air China (CA)? China Airlines (CI) is from Taiwan, and I don't think the Taiwanese government is currently willing to sign any treaty with Panama, just a year since Panama switched their recognition of China by starting full diplomatic relations with Beijing (following Costa Rica's example from over 10 years ago).

Talking about Taiwan, CM and EVA got approval from the US government for codeshares. https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=DOT-OST-2018-0016

Copa Airlines operated by EVA
TPE - LAX - TPE
TPE - SFO - TPE
TPE - JFK - TPE
TPE - ORD - TPE

EVA operated by Copa Airlines
PTY - LAX - PTY
PTY - SFO - PTY
PTY - JFK - PTY
PTY - ORD - PTY

https://www.larepublica.net/noticia/nat ... -en-un-mes

After laying off 20 employees earlier this month, things have gotten worse for 5C. So much that there has been a second wave of layoffs. 32 employees were fired just today.

Does anyone here really think there is a future for 5C? Personally, I think they're done, and I've been saying it all along since they were grounded. Getting grounded was the worst thing that could happen to them, because history shows that after such groundings, airlines often disappear for good.

WK will add a third frequency to SJO:

TUE: ZRH-SJO 17:35 - 21:50/ SJO- ZRH 23:35 - 18:55 (+1)
FRI: ZRH-SJO 12:25 - 16:407/ SJO-ZRH 18:20 - 13:40 (+1)
SAT: ZRH-SJO 13:30 – 17:40 / SJO- ZRH 19:45 – 15:05 (+1)

Effective: September 2018

https://www.elfinancierocr.com/negocios ... QCY/story/

Why does WK ZRH-SJO 3x weekly change the schedule every day ?
It’s strange.

AC YYZ-PTY 3x weekly goes from 319 to 763.
Effective: January 17 - January 31.
Flights are operated by Air Canada Rouge.

Regards.

SJOtoLIR wrote:

AC YYZ-PTY 3x weekly goes from 319 to 763.
Effective: January 17 - January 31.
Flights are operated by Air Canada Rouge.

Seems AC needs to add capacity, for them better upgrade to B767 than go daily and cope the Panama Canada Canadian assigned frequencies.

2travel2know2 wrote:

SJOtoLIR wrote:

AC YYZ-PTY 3x weekly goes from 319 to 763.
Effective: January 17 - January 31.
Flights are operated by Air Canada Rouge.

Seems AC needs to add capacity, for them better upgrade to B767 than go daily and cope the Panama Canada Canadian assigned frequencies.

Great to see they will use the B763 on this flight for a few flights at least. I did YYZ-PTY in December/January and both ways it was completely full.