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San Diego will have a new nonstop route to Latin America in June when Copa Airlines lands in the Southern California metropolis.
The Star Alliance carrier will connect San Diego International Airport (SAN) to its "Hub of the Americas" at Panama City's Tocumen International Airport (PTY). Service will begin June 25, with four weekly flights operating Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays on a Boeing 737.
Copa will be San Diego's only Latin American airline when flights begin.
"With the addition of San Diego, we enhance connectivity between Southern California and Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, fostering tourism and commercial exchange across the continent," Pedro Heilbron, CEO of Copa, said in a statement.
This development means new one-stop connecting options to places like Medellin, Colombia; Mendoza, Argentina; and San Jose, Costa Rica.
San Diego has long sought a Latin American link. At Routes events — sometimes known as speed dating for airlines and airports — airport executives have regularly met with leaders of Latin American carriers in a multiyear marathon run to land nonstop service to the region.
The city previously boasted nonstops to Mexico on Volaris and Aeromexico, schedule data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows. The airlines ended flights in 2016 and 2010 respectively.
Today, the only flights south of the border from San Diego are to beach spots popular with American visitors. Cirium schedules show Alaska Airlines flies to Los Cabos' San Jose del Cabo International Airport (SJD) and Puerto Vallarta International Airport (PVR) while Southwest Airlines flies to SJD.
Other foreign airlines in San Diego include British Airways, Japan Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), and Lufthansa.
San Diego is Copa's seventeenth U.S. destination and third in California after Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The airline's last U.S. addition was Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) in early February this year.
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