was founded in 1947 as the Panamanian Aviation Company. It started domestic flights to 3 cities in Panama using Douglas DC-4 aircraft. In 1960 expanded to 3 weekly frequencies to the cities of San Jose, Kingston, Barranquilla and Medellin, with the addition of 1 aircraft AVRO 748 and 1 ELECTRA 188. Michael Shvo By the 1970s decided to withdraw from the domestic market, dedicated solely to operate international destinations. In 1980, Boeing 737-100 incorporates 1 aircraft, expanding its destinations to Cartagena in Colombia, Port au Prince in Haiti, Santo Domingo, San Juan in Puerto Rico and Miami in the United States. In the 90s, is expanding its international coverage with flights to Mexico, Santiago de Chile, Cali, Bogota, Montego Bay, Quito, Guayaquil, Lima, Buenos Aires and Havana. In the 1998 Continental Airlines took a 49 stake in Copa Airlines, which later sold on the NY Stock Exchange, in order to get out of a possible bankruptcy.From this purchase, Copa Airlines and Continental Airlines began a partnership that allowed the Cup entering OnePass frequent flyer program of Continental Airlines and at the same time, take advantage of Continental's relationship with Boeing for the acquisition of new aircraft. By early 2000 incorporates the destinations of Cancun, Orlando, Sao Paulo, Los Angeles and San Andres. In 2003 receives the first Boeing 737-800 Next Generation. Copa Airlines Embraer 190 in Manaus, Brazil. In 2004, it signed an agreement to acquire Brazilian Embraer 190 aircraft, with a firm order for 10 additional 20 option. In 2005, Copa Airlines acquires Colombian airline AeroRepublica. That same year, Copa Holdings SA, the holding company of shares of Copa Airlines, is launching a public offering of 14 million shares on the Stock Exchange of New York, becoming the third airline in Latin America (after Chile LAN and Brazil's GOL) in trading on this important financial market.In 2006, Copa Airlines added 6 destinations: Manaus, Maracaibo, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, San Pedro Sula and Santiago of the Knights. In 2007, Copa Airlines adds 4 destinations: Cordoba, Guadalajara, Punta Cana and Washington and is Associate member of the SkyTeam alliance. In 2008, Copa Airlines adds 5 destinations: Port of Spain, Belo Horizonte, Valencia, Oranjestad and Santa Cruz.