Air Panama (7P, Panamá City Paitilla) has publicly questioned if Copa Airlines (CM, Panamá City Tocumen International) should be allowed to compete with it on the biggest domestic market in Panama between Panamá City and David starting January 15. Air Panama currently operates from Panamá City Paitilla to David up to four times daily with a mix of Fokker 100s and Fokker 50s. Copa plans to operate two daily E190 services from its Panamá City Tocumen International hub, its first domestic services in the country.
Air Panama executive president Eduardo Stagg has told local paper La Prensa that the regional carrier does not believe its much larger competitor complies with a national law requiring at least 60% of the shares in an airline to be owned by Panamanian nationals to be allowed to operate domestically.
Copa disagrees and says that it complies with all national laws and is allowed to operate the service. More than half of Panamanian local traffic is on the route to David, Air Panama's most important in its network.
