Copa Airlines launches new route from Panama City to San Diego

Last year, over 340,000 passengers traveled between San Diego and regions in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America via connecting hubs. However, connections through Panama may present challenges due to early arrival times back home (05:25), potentially leading to longer layovers for South American destinations.

The new service runs on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Flight CM847 departs Panama City at 13:15 local time and arrives in San Diego at 17:44 local time. The return flight CM850 leaves San Diego at 21:03 local time and reaches Panama City by 05:25+1 local time.

Between July and December this year, several long-haul narrowbody routes operate out of San Diego based on maximum block times. These include services by various airlines like Alaska Airlines and JetBlue on routes such as Boston (6h40m) and New York JFK (6h26m).

Copa’s network extends across numerous US cities with varying frequencies; Miami leads with the highest number of weekly flights at 53. Other cities like Atlanta joined their network in recent years alongside Austin, Baltimore Raleigh/Durham—and now—San Diego—all featuring four weekly departures each.