Wingo abandons Panama-Costa Rica route

WINGO, the low-cost subsidiary of Copa  Airlines has faced some turbulent balance sheet conditions despite recording sales of $90 million s in its first year, and faced with strong competition from Air Panama, has pulled the plug on its  Costa Rica-Panama route due to the poor results.

The company had previously abandoned the Costa Rica-Guatemala route due to low demand.

Catalina Bretón, general manager of the company with her

base in Colombia noted that not all routes have the same acceptance and it was decided to leave that market, leaving sister company Copa Airlines to meet the demand.

“There are other routes that have had a greater acceptance, such as flights to Colombia, where We fly daily to some cities, and we have increased flights to others, “she told La Prensa

In Costa Rica, Wingo competed with Air Panama, which this year added an additional frequency from the Costa Rican capital to Bocas del Toro, with a stop in the province of Chiriqui.

Bretón said that in a few months they have achieved profit, but still the balance sheet is negative.

Pedro Heilbron, CEO of Copa Airlines, said during a conference on the quarterly results of the company, it will take time before Wingo is profitable, adding that the company represented 2% of Copa Holdings,  revenues Holdings, which between July and September generated $657 million.

During the conference call with Wall Street financial analysts, Heilbron commented that have managed to reduce the operational losses of Copa Colombia, the former AeroRepublic, company that served as a base to put together the operations of Wingo, carrying 787,000 passengers in their first year.

Breton, said that the company has a rate of 99.8% of flights completed f and a punctuality of 89.9%.

With a fleet of 4 aircraft with a capacity of 142 passengers, Wingo offers flights on 16 routes in 8 countries, with flights between Panama and Colombia (Bogotá, Cartagena, Cali and Medellín) registering the biggest movement of passengers.

On flights to Colombia, the company competes with Viva Colombia, with whom it shares space in the Panama Pacifico terminal, Howard’s former military base and also with Air Panama, which is based in the Marcos A. Gelabert terminal in Albrook.