Flying to Buenos Aires with Copa Airlines from Quito

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welcome to a new flight report, this time flying to Buenos Aires with Copa Airlines from Quito.

En esta nueva entrega vamos a hablar de cómo es volar con la principal aerolínea panameña desde el famoso «HUB de las Américas», one of the most important connection centers in Latin America if not the most important.

The return to Quito was in Executive Class that you can read HERE.

El «HUB de las Américas» bautizado así por Copa Airlines, takes place in the main Panamanian airport, Tocumen International, serving the capital of Panama. From this great hub of connections, passengers can reach more than 75 destinations in North, Central and South America in 30 countries, all these Copa destinations with short and convenient connection times. further, and thanks to codeshare agreements with airlines like KLM, Turkish Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa and others, the options for HUB users have increased with the possibility of connecting to the whole world from a single central airport.

With an operational team made up of 101 aircraft in Embraer models 190, Boeing 737-700 y Boeing 737-800, Copa Airlines has one of the youngest and most modern fleets in the region, which has allowed it to annually expand its destinations and continue to gain the trust of passengers from all over the American continent. With the early incorporation of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, MAX 9 and MAX 10, the airline hopes to further expand its destinations by having greater autonomy with these 70 ordered planes and destinations such as, Hawaii appears on the airline's horizon and others like Seattle too.

In this opportunity, thanks to the support of Copa Airlines, I was invited to try your service from Quito, Ecuador to Buenos Aires, Argentina with the anticipated connection in Panama. The experience was lived as follows:

PASSAGE PURCHASE

Although on this occasion I traveled as a guest, You can also perform a complete simulation of a ticket purchase for the purposes of this report.. The Copa website uses SITA technology, one of the leading GDS providers – Global Distribution System, From the market.

Usually, Copa's web system is easy to understand and does not involve complicated or difficult steps. a positive point, is that it allows the selection before making the payment of the seat that we want to fly in each leg of the trip and we can also change them later when checking-in.

The website accepts only one type of payment, these can be made with a Visa credit card, Mastercard and AmericanXpress so the payment can be made from any country. In the event that the passenger has another card or requires another type of payment, You can also find your flights in the GDS as Take off, Expedia and other similar.

Finally, there is also the option to save the reservation in case you found an interesting rate and you are not yet sure to buy it for 24 hours. The system will generate a temporary code with which you can complete the payment before the 24 expiration hours.

ADDITIONAL SERVICES

It should not be forgotten that Copa Airlines is an airline that operates as a traditional or legacy airline., this means that the services to which we have always been accustomed to before the arrival of the low cost, they are always included in the final price of the ticket and we will not have to pay more. Even so, the airline offers a series of extra services that passengers can contract according to their needs:

• Travel insurance (Not available in all countries).
• Car rental (Not available in all countries).
• Transportation of sports equipment (bicycles, ski equipment, windsurfing, etc.) – $100 by team.
• pet transport – $125 Per container.
• children traveling alone – $60 a $90.

BAGGAGE

The most marked difference with the concept of low cost with traditional airlines, it is the usual transport at least one baggage allowance with the most basic rate. Copa is no exception and allows you to always carry up to 2 suitcases that together do not exceed 32 kilos of weight or 1 alone of the same weight.

In all your destinations, allows additional carry with extra charge, 2 suitcases up to 45 kilos and 158 linear centimeters. The value per additional bag starts from $150 until the $400 with a maximum allowed additional suitcase weight of 90 kilos o 198 pounds.

Additional baggage allowance in the hold, passengers can also travel in the cabin with hand luggage that does not exceed the 46 linear inches (115 cm) largo + ancho + high and a maximum weight of 10 kilos o 22 pounds and an additional piece as a backpack, purse, laptop, tripod and other similar passenger use.

Details of baggage policies can be found HERE.

CHECK-IN

Copa Airlines allows you to check in from 24 flight hours to 1 hour before the same. The online channels available to do so are the website and mobile APP, in case you do not have internet access or cannot print boarding passes, You can always do it at the airport check-in counters, this service at the airport has no additional cost, but remember that to avoid delays or problems, you should get closer 3 hours before the departure time of your flight to the counters.

The airline also has self-check-in kiosks at the airport where you can check in yourself and print the passes.

AIRPORT AND BOARDING

At Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport, cup has up 6 check-in counters that operate simultaneously for the departure of their 4 daily flights from the Ecuadorian capital to Panama. In these counters are divided by main cabin (passengers in economy cabin and who have not previously checked in), WebCheck-In (counter for passengers who are already checked, but they need to dispatch bags to the hold and Prefer Access (check-in for passengers traveling in Business Class or Star Alliance and ConnectMiles members)

The check of a suitcase to the hold was very fast and at no time was there a line of more than 3 passengers at the authorized counters and the airline staff, despite the slack they had, they attended to all the passengers with the same brevity as if the queue were long, making attention more pleasant.

Already in the passenger boarding area, 4 people from the Copa Airlines Quito team were in charge of boarding the passengers by pre-assigned groups in the boarding passes and this process was carried out normally and took about 15 minutes to have all the passengers inside the plane and it should be noted that the flight from Quito operated on time and the one from Panama to Buenos Aires with a delay of 20 minutes by air traffic, but that was recovered in the air.

Before we sit in our seat, the friendly Copa team allowed me access to the cockpit, where the Commander and First Officer shared impressions of the efficient operation in Quito and we were able to talk about some aeronautical issues. ¿Sabían que la ruta Panamá a Buenos Aires es la tercera más larga de Copa Airlines con 7 flight hours? The second longest is Panama to Montevideo with 7 hours 15 minutes and the longest of all, that holds the record for the longest in America is Panama to San Francisco with 7 hours and 35 minutes (by wind, but by miles Montevideo wins), that pushes the autonomy of Boeing aircraft to the limit 737 of the airline.

The times indicated above are averages., they can be more or less depending on the wind on the route and in some cases, forces the flight to redispatch in the air and land at an alternate airport to load more fuel in order to reach the destination.

ON BOARD

The food and beverage service at Copa Airlines is quite complete.. In the section Quito Panama, a flight of 1 hour and 30 minutes, the airline offers the service of a hot sandwich accompanied by fruits, an energy bar and a drink of the passenger's choice. Pretty good if you take into account the short flight.

On the long section from Panama to Buenos Aires, the service is increased and is offered, for the time of this flight at noon, 2 lunch options. The first option was spaghetti bolognese and the second was meat in juice with vegetables, salad, pan, cookies and beverages of choice. This was the alternative that I opted for and I accompanied it with Gingerale and rum and cola.

Less than 1 time to land, once again the Copa service surprises with a snack, which is also composed of 2 options. The first a meat sandwich and the second a chicken empanada, I asked for both options to take photos and they gave me them without problem and it is accompanied with a drink of choice.

on a flight from 7 hours the food options are very good and above all, they cover the different meals according to the flight schedule.

IN FLIGHT

The entire crew on both flights was Panamanian.. very kind, friendly and generally, always with a smile to the requests of the passengers. Something that I highlight is the excellent level of English of the announcements to the passengers given by the crew as well as the pilots., an important detail with all the routes that the airline covers in North America.

The space between seats is very good, taking into account that the flight of more than 7 hours in a Boeing 737 could impose discomfort for passengers, the general feeling of the passenger sitting next to me was that it is very good, but that one more hour of flight would already have made it uncomfortable.

For the flight to Buenos Aires, el avión que tocó fue el Boeing 737-800 HP-1829CMP con tan solo 5 years of operation that has special paint from the Sao Paulo soccer team. This aircraft has individual touch screens that come pre-loaded with a wide variety of current movies., some older, T.V. series, short, music and games. further, each screen has a USB port that allows you to keep any mobile device charged.

On flights of more than 6 hours, the airline puts its newest Boeing online 737-800, these are designed with Sky Interior that imposes a more relaxing and spacious environment for passengers with larger and easier to use overhead compartments when placing hand luggage.

It should be noted that on the flight from Quito to Panama, surprisingly, operated one of the Boeing 737-700 oldest in the Copa fleet registration HP-1521CMP with 14.3 years of operation in the airline and the difference with, for example, the upper passenger panel is notable in the change from vintage to modern with the Sky Interior. This plane will be replaced with the first MAX.

Tocumen Airport

On the layover at Tocumen International Airport, for us aviation lovers, There are several interesting points to do some spotting in the Copa house. There is even an AvGeek restaurant set with aeronautical themes related to the first plane that operated commercially in Panama..

The Panama Airport is a terminal that has its years and the 90s atmosphere in some sectors makes you go back to the past, but there are other more modern and better organized areas. The airport, given the movement that Copa generates, it is becoming small, but an early solution will be inaugurated on 2018. The new and modern Terminal 2, will allow the airport to improve its services, imagen y también a Copa mejorar aún más sus índices de puntualidad que la ubican como la «segunda mejor del mundo» y la «primera de Latinoamérica.»

The new terminal is currently being built south of the current terminal and will be interconnected.

Ezeiza Airport

Minister Pistarini International Airport, which bears the name of the General who began its construction, is currently in the stage of remodeling and growth. At the airport you can go from newly remodeled and modern areas to classic areas with a 90s image. In all its areas you feel an amplitude of space that stands out and without a doubt, make passengers feel comfortable.

Given the time of arrival and departure, it was difficult to take photos of the wide variety of planes and airlines that operate here, in any case, It is an airport that with its changes will improve even more and it is functional, which has allowed it to attract several new international airlines in recent times and that its traffic increases every day.

CONCLUSION

It is not for nothing that Copa Airlines has positioned itself as one of the largest airlines in Latin America and a serious competition for the large airline groups in South America.. Your HUB that works like a Swiss watch, its modern and comfortable planes, First class service and the largest network of destinations that no other airline in the region has make it an excellent option for any passenger looking to fly with good service., good ticket cost and on time to your destination.

Flying with Copa Airlines from Ecuador to Buenos Aires is an alternative, if you don't mind a few extra hours of travel, It is an important option to consider., even more taking into account that there is no direct flight from Ecuador to Buenos Aires and a stopover is always necessary.

This freehand airline has earned its place and respect in the industry and its connection center has been essential for this, without needing to fly to Europe, destination that should be by nature a must for an airline that wants to grow after having conquered the United States and Canada, instead, flies to key destinations in the region and other less traditional ones, with a very interesting line of business: each destination must demand at least 3 daily flights to be profitable and interesting for the airline.

In this way, great demand and options are ensured to all its destinations for passengers coming from the north or south to Panama.. You have to take into account the population of Panama, something more than 4 millions of people, a small market for any airline, but faced with this scenario, Copa knew how to adapt and understand that the strength of its business was not to bring Panamanians to the world or to bring tourists to Panama., otherwise, offer connections to the entire continent from the middle of America, more privileged position than that, impossible.

Additional Information

• Copa Airlines operates 4 daily flights to Quito and up to 5 daily flights to Guayaquil:

Panama – Quito – Panama

 

Panama – Guayaquil – Panama

 

• If they have a scale of at least 5 hours in Panama, they will be able to calmly go out to visit the city without having to pay for immigration. in these 5 hours they can dedicate 3 hours to visit a shopping center (there are free transfers to the MetroMall), but going to the Panama Canal will be very fair and they will not be able to enjoy it to the fullest.
• Ecuadorians only need a passport to visit Panama, but with ID they will not allow access.

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