Copa Airlines is a small carrier that is based out of Panama (Specifically Tocumen International Airport (PTY)), flying routes between the USA to the north and down to countries in South America.Its hub location makes it perfect for trans-inter-continental travel, which they accomplish with their fleet of 90 jets (Most of which are Boeing 737’s). But what is making news is that they have recently received their newest jet, a Boeing 737max-9 that has something rather special, business class flatbeds
Why this is special
Originally, the airline only had recliner business class seats throughout their fleet, which suited the mould perfectly as they only flew 6-7 hour flights between destinations. But many of their business class passengers would then board another Copa Airlines plane and continue on for another 6-7 hours, arriving at their destinations exhausted.
To redeem the problem, they have decided to upgrade their recliner business class seats in their new planes to be flatbeds. They will be one of the rare airlines in the world to do so on the smaller jet, done before by Fly Dubai in the middle east, and recently by Jet Blue in the United States.
What are the specifics?
The new business class cabin will be in a 2x2 configuration and have 16 total seats on board. We believe from the look of them (in the released press photos) that they will be installing the B/E Aerospace Diamond seats, that also features a 16†touchscreen for entertainment.
The new class will be called ‘Copa Dreams’.
What about the rest of the plane?
Not to leave out the rest of their customers, Copa Airlines will also be creating a new class, Economy Extra, that features standard economy seats with an extra 34†of pitch. They will be in a 3x3 configuration with four rows (24 seats in total).
They will feature a 10†seatback screen.
You might have noticed us highlighting the specific screen size of each different seat, and that is for good reason because the new standard economy seat has no personal seatback entertainment screen.
Apparently, Copa Airlines wishes to have customers bring their own devices (Like we see on United and other carriers) and has now made a personal screen an affordable, upgradable extra.
Where can you fly on it?
The first few routes have been revealed (Note, that it is not currently daily yet, but as they have more planes they will slowly take over these routes).
Panama City – Bogota 03OCT18
Panama City – Boston 21DEC18
Panama City – Cancun 10DEC18
Panama City – Cartagena 03OCT18
Panama City – Cordoba 08DEC18
Panama City – Havana 06DEC18
Panama City – Las Vegas 29DEC18
Panama City – Los Angeles 22SEP18
Panama City – Managua 22DEC18
Panama City – Miami 20SEP18
Panama City – New York JFK 05NOV18
Panama City – Orlando 03NOV18
Panama City – Punta Cana 29DEC18
Panama City – San Francisco 21SEP18
Panama City – San Jose (Costa Rica) 06OCT18
Panama City – San Pedro Sula 01DEC18
Panama City – Santa Cruz 10DEC18
Panama City – Santiago de Chile 06DEC18
Panama City – Tampa 20SEP18
We look forward to revewing the new class once its up in the air and the kinks have been worked out.