PanaCopa: public-private partnership

With the inauguration this month of a Boston-Panama flight, Copa continues with its plan to be Latin America’s leading airline, thanks partly to government help.

Copa, mainly owned by Stanley Motta, takes the risk of opening new routes.

In addition, Copa is is investing in its fleet, including the purchase last year of 32 new Boeings, at a cost of more than $1billion.

For its part, the government finances the expansion of Tocumen airport, so that Copa never has to wait for a gate.

Plus, the government has built modern roads, to take visitors to the capital, and to the huge Colón free zone, to which buyers come from all over Latin America.

Two more attractions for visitors will be a new convention center and the Frank Gehry biodiversity museum.

The opening next year of the expanded Panama Canal, along with a public-private partnership in the air transport business, are part of a plan to make Panama the logistics center of the Americas.