Who owns Copa Airlines?
Copa Airlines is owned by Copa (Panama, NYSE: CPA).[1]
Copa owns 99.9% of Copa Airlines rather than all of it.
Evidence: Copa Holdings, S.A. Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-02-26, SEC EDGAR, 26 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Copa Holdings, S.A. (99.9% stake) verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇵🇦 Panama, Panama City
- Origin
- 🇵🇦 Panama, Panama City
- Founded
- 1947
- Category
- Travel & transport › Airlines
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: CPA
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Copa Airlines
Copa Airlines was established in 1947 by Panamanian investors together with Pan American World Airways, which supplied capital and technical help, and began with three domestic routes and three Douglas C-47s. It dropped domestic flying in the 1980s to concentrate on international service, and now builds its whole network around connecting traffic through the Hub of the Americas at Tocumen. It has been a Star Alliance member since June 2012 and was named the most punctual airline in Latin America for the eleventh year in Cirium's 2025 review.
Ownership timeline of Copa Airlines
Where Copa Airlines sits in Copa
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
- ConnectMiles
- Copa Airlines (99.9%)
- Copa Airlines Colombia (99.9%)
- Wingo
Open the full Copa ownership tree →
See the full Copa brand portfolio (4) →
Other brands owned by Copa
Copa controls 4 brands on Brandtree, 4 of them in travel & transport.
Also in travel & transport
- ConnectMiles (2015)
- Copa Airlines Colombia
- Wingo (2016)
Other brands in airlines, and who owns them
The 509 brands in airlines on Brandtree belong to 341 owners. The largest is Lufthansa Group, with 10; Copa has 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Air Dolomiti | Lufthansa Group | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| China Southern Airlines | China Southern Airlines | 🇨🇳 China |
| Air China | Air China | 🇨🇳 China |
| Aer Lingus | IAG | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| LATAM Airlines Brasil | LATAM | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| Air France | Air France-KLM | 🇫🇷 France |
| AirAsia | AirAsia X | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| Calm Air | Exchange Income | 🇨🇦 Canada |
About the owner: Copa
Copa is a publicly listed company headquartered in Panama City, Panama, founded in 1998. Brandtree records 4 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: CPA.
Copa Holdings is the Panamanian holding company for Copa Airlines and the low-cost brand Wingo, incorporated on 6 May 1998 to allow CIASA to sell a 49 per cent stake in the airline to Continental Airlines. Continental sold its last shares in 2008; CIASA still holds all the Class B voting shares and 26.6 per cent of the capital, and the rest trades on the New York Stock Exchange after a December 2005 listing. The group flew 125 Boeing aircraft at the end of 2025, offers about 436 daily flights to 84 destinations in 32 countries from its Panama City hub, and reported revenue of $3.6 billion and an operating profit of $819.0 million for the year.
🇵🇦 Copa Airlines and other Panamanian brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 13 brands that began in Panama. 5 of them (38%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Copa Airlines is not one of them.
- Air Panama — Air Panama 🇵🇦
- Alimentos Melo — Grupo Melo 🇵🇦
- Banistmo — Grupo Cibest 🇨🇴
- Inteligo — IFS 🇵🇪
- La Chiricana — Dos Pinos 🇨🇷
- Toledano — CMI 🇬🇹
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Copa Airlines?
The parent company of Copa Airlines is Copa, a publicly listed company headquartered in Panama.
Is Copa Airlines Panamanian?
Yes. Copa Airlines originated in Panama in 1947 and its owner, Copa, is also headquartered in Panama.
Is Copa Airlines still owned by Copa?
Yes. As of 29 October 2026, Copa Airlines is still owned by Copa (99.9% stake). The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Copa Holdings, S.A. Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-02-26 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 20-F, published 26 February 2026; retrieved 22 September 2026.
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