It’s getting a little repetitive to talk about what a great quarter Copa Airlines just had. But truth be told, Copa Airlines just had another great quarter, even by its own lofty standards. From July to September, not even especially peak for Panama, Copa’s operating margin reached 24%. And you thought the 18% figure it posted a year ago was good. In the same quarter of 2019, for the record, Copa’s operating margin was 19%. Versus last year, unit revenues declined 4% but on 12% more capacity. Unit costs, meanwhile, dropped 11% thanks largely to cheaper fuel. Copa paid just $3 per gallon for its fuel last quarter compared to $3.81 a year earlier. During an earnings call with analysts, Copa’s management led by longtime CEO Pedro Heilbron said demand conditions were “robust.” This was true for Q3. It’s true for the current quarter. And it’s true for bookings coming in as late as next quarter. The strong US economy is one reason. Also supporting demand are strengthening currencies throughout Latin America. The Mexican peso-to-US dollar rate, for example, averaged close to 17 in Q3, compared to more than 20 a year ago. Even excluding fuel, Copa’s Q3 unit costs declined year-on-year, by about 2%. To achieve cost efficiencies, the airline is introducing new Boeing 737-9s, ending the quarter with a total of 103 planes total, 26 of them -9s. In addition, it’s now selling 70% of its tickets through direct distribution channels. Since the end of last quarter, Copa added Barquisimeto to its network. That’s in Venezuela, an important market because of Panama’s large expatriate Venezuelan population. The country also lacks any major airline competitors, which leaves Copa as its de facto national airline. Prior to Barquisimeto, newly-introduced Copa markets included Austin and Baltimore-Washington in the US, and Manta in Ecuador. In Colombia, Copa operates a low-cost airline called Wingo, which benefitted from the demise of rivals like Viva Air. During Q3, Wingo launched three new routes, one of them linking the capitals of Colombia and Venezuela (Bogota-Caracas). <br/>
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Sabre-connected travel agencies now have access to LOT Polish Airlines' New Distribution Capability offers through Sabre's global distribution system, the technology company announced Wednesday. LOT becomes the 16th airline to make its NDC content available through Sabre. The NDC content is bookable through the Sabre Offer and Order APIs, the Sabre Red 360 agency booking solution and the company's GetThere online booking tool. LOT recently unveiled a strategy, from 2024 to 2028, to increase its fleet to 110 aircraft, add 20 new destinations, grow passenger numbers by 70%, and to increase service quality and passenger satisfaction. A key component of that, said the airline in statement, is the enabling of greater personalisation through rich content and NDC-enabled offers.<br/>
EgyptAir has placed an order with German freighter conversion firm Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) for two A330-200 passenger to freighter (P2F) conversions. EFW has confirmed the order to Air Cargo News (ACN), although the company said they had no further information to announce regarding the order. EgyptAir has not replied to ACN’s request for comment. The A330-200Fs will join the existing three A330-200P2Fs, and one Boeing 737-800P2F already in EgyptAir’s fleet. EgyptAir signed a deal with Aeronautical Engineers, Inc. (AEI) for the conversion of the 737-800 in May last year. Compared to its A300-600 predecessor the A330P2F offers up to 30% more volume and payload at about 20% less fuel burn per ton of payload, according to EFW. EFW is a joint venture between Singapore-based ST Engineering and France-headquartered Airbus.<br/>