Copa sees 2020 timeframe for launch of JV with Avianca and United

Copa Airlines CE Pedro Heilbron expects a planned three-way joint venture with Avianca and United Airlines to go into effect in end-2020 "at best", underlining the several rounds of regulatory approvals needed for the deal. Negotiations among the three airlines are still ongoing and have not concluded, Heilbron pointed out on an earnings call on 15 November. "Hopefully that will happen before the end of the year and it's going to then take at least a year-and-a-half to get it all approved especially in Panama, Colombia, and the US," said Heilbron. "So this will at best enter into effect towards the end of 2020." In August, Copa emerged as the third airline involved in joint venture discussions between Avianca and United, which were made public in early 2017. Heilbron said that Copa had been part of the talks since day one, "but chose not to make it public thinking we were going to finalise the three-way negotiations much sooner". <br/>