COPA is surviving the flu epedmic

PANAMA. Airlines around the world are experiencing problems due to the global economic crisis and the A/H1N1 pandemic.

But the the Panamanian airline COPA is bucking the trend and its shares have increased by 23 percent since the beginning of , after dropping 11 percent in April.

Since the start of the A/H1N1 epidemic in Mexico, traffic between Panama and the northern country has diminished substantially but. according to the airline, it is too premature to estimate the impact it will have in the future.

Luisa Alvarado, COPA’s spokeswoman said that the airline is maintaining operating frequencies between the two countries, but they have adopted policies in respect of penalties due to changes in schedules and flights.

< To stimulate the demand of holiday destinations in Mexico during the low season, Copa Airlines is launching promotions with tourists operators from Panama and Mexico that include special offers with airline tickets that include hotels and terrestrial transport services.

Additionally to encourage traffic to South America and the Caribbean, promotional tariffs have been put in place.

Alvarado said that the A/H1N1 pandemic has affected the movement of passengers between other countries in Latin America, but to a lesser extent than decrease in Mexican traffic.

The spokeswoman said that Copa maintains regular operation with solid operational and financial indicators. “We expect that once the flu pandemic slows down the moment of passenger to and from Mexico will return to normal in a short period of time.

Recently Copa announced that it has decided to leave the Sky Team Alliance in support of the ten-year operational alignment with Continental Airlines. The alliance with Sky Team will end on 24 October 2009. Copa stated that when this happens its three-way alliance with Continental and Aero Republica will remain as strong and will continue to include joint participation in the three airlines' program, such as OnePass.

OnePass members will continue to earn miles on SkyTeam alliance airlines flights until 24 October 2009.

Meanwhile, American airlines are bracing themselves for a possible seven percent fewer passengers during the crucial summer period.

Airlines have lost pricing power as the economy continues to weaken and international demand falls, spurring fare sales. Both average fares and load factors, or the number of filled seats per plane, have fallen since late 2008.

However, some of Latin America's airlines, a small but growing sector of the aviation marketplace, are doing remarkably well and Copa appears to be doing better than most in what a clearly is a very hostile climate for the travelling industry.