Copa Airlines Opens Route between Boston and Panama City

With funding for terrestrial transportation under debate, officials from Massachusetts and Panama celebrated a new air link to Panama City.

“Today we welcome a world class airline to a world class city,” Massachusetts Port Authority CEO Tom Glynn said. Nonstop flights from Boston to Panama City are scheduled to leave at 9:54 a.m. daily

Starting July 10, Copa Airlines will start flights out of Logan International Airport, providing “a gateway to all of Latin America,” as Gov. Deval Patrick put it, “to say nothing of Panama as its own destination.”

The airline has flights throughout South America, Central America and the Caribbean, and service to Washington, D.C. and New York among other United States destinations, according to its website. The Panama-based airline selected Boston as its next expansion into the states.

“This frankly has generated a lot of excitement in Panama,” said Copa CEO Pedro Heilbron at an event in Nurses Hall Wednesday morning. He said, “It has generated incredible excitement among parents of college-aged students in Panama who now have a direct connection.”

While state officials cheered the ease with which Latin American tourists will be able to visit the Bay State, a Panamanian extolled the virtues of his country, which will soon be that much more accessible. “It’s tropical weather year round,” said Vice Minister of Tourism Ernesto Orillac said.

Source: MassLive