As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 6, 2009

 

 

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 20-F

 

o		REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

þ		ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2008

OR

o		TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

o		SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission file number: 001-32696

 

COPA HOLDINGS, S.A.

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

Not Applicable
(Translation of Registrant’s Name Into English)

 

Republic of Panama
(Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

Avenida Principal y Avenida de la Rotonda, Costa del Este
Complejo Business Park, Torre Norte
Parque Lefevre, Panama City
Panama
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Joseph Putaturo
Complejo Business Park, Torre Norte
Parque Lefevre, Panama City, Panama
+507 304 2677 (Telephone)
+507 304 2535 (Facsimile)
(Registrant’s Contact Person)

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act

Title of Each Class:		Name of Each Exchange On Which Registered
Class A Common Stock, without par value		New York Stock Exchange

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:
None

 

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: At December 31, 2008, there were outstanding 43,194,566 shares of common stock, without par value, of which 30,416,441 were Class A shares and 12,778,125 were Class B shares.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. þ Yes o No

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. o Yes þ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. þ Yes o No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer and non-accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large Accelerated Filer þ		Accelerated Filer o		Non-accelerated Filer o

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

U.S. GAAP þ IFRS o Other o

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow:

o Item 17 o Item 18

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). o Yes þ No

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction		ii
Market Data		ii
Presentation of Financial and Statistical Data		iii
Special Note About Forward-Looking Statements		iii
Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers			1
Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable			1
Item 3. Key Information			1
Item 4. Information on the Company			22
Item 4A. Unresolved Staff Comments			42
Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects			42
Item 6. Directors, Senior Management and Employees			61
Item 7. Major Shareholders and Related Party Transactions			68
Item 8. Financial Information			71
Item 9. The Offer and Listing			73
Item 10. Additional Information			75
Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk			84
Item 12. Description of Securities Other than Equity Securities			85
Item 13. Defaults, Dividend Arrearages and Delinquencies			86
Item 14. Material Modifications to the Rights of Security Holders and Use of Proceeds			86
Item 15. Controls and Procedures			86
Item 16. Reserved			88
Item 16A. Audit Committee Financial Expert			88
Item 16B. Code of Ethics			88
Item 16C. Principal Accountant Fees and Services			88
Item 16D. Exemptions from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees			88
Item 16E. Purchase of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers			89
Item 16F. Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant			89
Item 16G. Corporate Governance			89
Item 17. Financial Statements			93
Item 18. Financial Statements			93
Item 19. Exhibits			93
Index to Financial Statements			F-1
Exhibit 10.49
Exhibit 10.50
Exhibit 12.1
Exhibit 12.2
Exhibit 13.1
Exhibit 13.2

INTRODUCTION

In this annual report, we use the term “Copa Holdings” to refer to Copa Holdings, S.A., “Copa” or “Copa Airlines” to refer to Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, S.A., and “AeroRepública” to refer to AeroRepública, S.A., a subsidiary of Copa Holdings, S.A. The terms “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Copa Holdings, S.A. together with its subsidiaries, except where the context requires otherwise. References to “Class A shares” refer to Class A shares of Copa Holdings, S.A.

This annual report contains terms relating to operating performance that are commonly used within the airline industry and are defined as follows:

•

“Aircraft utilization” represents the average number of block hours operated per day per aircraft for the total aircraft fleet.

•

“Available seat miles” or “ASMs” represents the aircraft seating capacity multiplied by the number of miles the seats are flown.

•

“Average stage length” represents the average number of miles flown per flight.

•

“Block hours” refers to the elapsed time between an aircraft leaving an airport gate and arriving at an airport gate.

•

“Break-even load factor” represents the load factor that would have resulted in total revenues being equal to total expenses.

•

“Load factor” represents the percentage of aircraft seating capacity that is actually utilized (calculated by dividing revenue passenger miles by available seat miles).

•

“Operating expense per available seat mile” represents operating expenses divided by available seat miles.

•

“Operating revenue per available seat mile” represents operating revenues divided by available seat miles.

•

“Passenger revenue per available seat mile” represents passenger revenue divided by available seat miles.

•

“Revenue passenger miles” represents the number of miles flown by revenue passengers.

•

“Revenue passengers” represents the total number of paying passengers (including all passengers redeeming OnePass frequent flyer miles and other travel awards) flown on all flight segments (with each connecting segment being considered a separate flight segment).

•

“Yield” represents the average amount one passenger pays to fly one mile.

Market Data

This annual report contains certain statistical data regarding our airline routes and our competitive position and market share in, and the market size of, the Latin American airline industry. This information has been derived from a variety of sources, including the International Air Transport Association, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the International Monetary Fund and other third-party sources, governmental agencies or industry or general publications. Information for which no source is cited has been prepared by us on the basis of our knowledge of Latin American airline markets and other information available to us. The methodology and terminology used by different sources are not always consistent, and data from different sources are not readily comparable. In addition, sources other than us use methodologies that are not identical to ours and may produce results that differ from our own estimates. Although we have not independently verified the information concerning our competitive position, market share, market size, market growth or other similar data provided by third-party sources or by industry or general publications, we believe these sources and publications are generally accurate and reliable.

Presentation of Financial and Statistical Data

Included elsewhere in this annual report are our audited consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2007 and 2008 and the audited consolidated statements of income, changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The consolidated financial information as of December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2005 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP and which have not been included in this annual report. Our audited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and are stated in U.S. dollars. We began consolidating the results of our AeroRepública operating subsidiary as of its acquisition date on April 22, 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, all references in the annual report to “$” or “dollars” refer to U.S. dollars, and all references to “Pesos” or “Ps.” refer to Colombian pesos, the local currency of Colombia.

Certain figures included in this annual report have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, figures shown as totals in certain tables may not be an arithmetic aggregation of the figures that precede them.

Special Note About Forward-Looking Statements

This annual report includes forward-looking statements, principally under the captions “Risk Factors,” “Business Overview” and “Operating and Financial Review and Prospects.” We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current beliefs, expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting our business. Many important factors, in addition to those discussed elsewhere in this annual report, could cause our actual results to differ substantially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements, including, among other things:

•

general economic, political and business conditions in Panama and Latin America and particularly in the geographic markets we serve;

•

our management’s expectations and estimates concerning our future financial performance and financing plans and programs;

•

our level of debt and other fixed obligations;

•

demand for passenger and cargo air service in the markets in which we operate;

•

competition;

•

our capital expenditure plans;

•

changes in the regulatory environment in which we operate;

•

changes in labor costs, maintenance costs, fuel costs and insurance premiums;

•

changes in market prices, customer demand and preferences and competitive conditions;

•

cyclical and seasonal fluctuations in our operating results;

•

defects or mechanical problems with our aircraft;

•

our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy;

•

our ability to obtain financing on commercially reasonable terms; and

•

the risk factors discussed under “Risk Factors” beginning on page 4.

The words “believe,” “may,” “will,” “aim,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect” and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, business strategies, financing plans, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities, the effects of future regulation and the effects of competition. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly or to revise any forward-looking statements after the date of this annual report because of new information, future events or other factors. In light of the risks and uncertainties described above, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this annual report might not occur and are not guarantees of future performance. Considering these limitations, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this annual report.

PART I

Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisers

Not applicable.

Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Not applicable.

Item 3. Key Information

A. Selected Financial Data

The following table presents summary consolidated financial and operating data for each of the periods indicated. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and are stated in U.S. dollars. You should read this information in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report and the information under “¾Selected Financial Data” and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” appearing elsewhere in this annual report.

The summary consolidated financial information as of December 31, 2007 and 2008 and for the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report. The consolidated financial information as of December 31, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2005 has been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements that were prepared under U.S. GAAP and which have not been included in this annual report.

We have acquired 99.9% of the stock of AeroRepública, a Colombian air carrier, and began consolidating its results on April 22, 2005. As a result of this acquisition, our financial information prior to and after the acquisition is not comparable.

		Year Ended December 31,
		2004				2005(21)				2006				2007				2008
		(in thousands of dollars, except share and per share data and operating data)
INCOME STATEMENT DATA
Operating revenue:
Passenger revenue		$	364,611			$	563,520			$	798,901			$	967,066			$	1,217,311
Cargo, mail and other			35,226				45,094				52,259				60,198				71,478
Total operating revenues			399,837				608,614				851,160				1,027,264				1,288,789
Operating expenses:
Aircraft fuel			62,549				149,303				217,730				265,387				404,669
Salaries and benefits			51,701				69,730				91,382				116,691				139,431
Passenger servicing			39,222				50,622				64,380				82,948				98,775
Commissions			29,073				45,087				57,808				65,930				67,177
Reservations and sales			22,118				29,213				38,212				48,229				54,996
Maintenance, materials and repairs			19,742				32,505				50,057				51,249				66,438
Depreciation			19,279				19,857				24,874				35,328				42,891
Flight operations			17,904				24,943				33,740				43,958				56,425
Aircraft rentals			14,445				27,631				38,169				38,636				43,008
Landing fees and other rentals			12,155				17,909				23,929				27,017				32,467
Other			29,306				32,622				44,758				55,093				58,521
Special fleet charges(1)			—				—				—				7,309				—
Gain from involuntary conversion(2)			—				—				—				(8,019	)			—
Total operating expenses			317,494				499,422				685,039				829,756				1,064,798
Operating income			82,343				109,192				166,121				197,508				223,991
Non-operating income (expense):
Interest expense			(16,488	)			(21,629	)			(29,150	)			(44,332	)			(42,071	)
Interest capitalized			963				1,089				1,712				2,570				1,921
Interest income			1,423				3,544				7,257				12,193				11,130
Other, net(3)			6,063				395				185				10,987				(58,843	)
Total non-operating expenses, net			(8,039	)			(16,601	)			(19,996	)			(18,582	)			(87,863	)
Income before income taxes			74,304				92,591				146,125				178,926				136,128
Provision for income taxes			(5,732	)			(9,592	)			(12,286	)			(17,106	)			(17,469	)
Net income			68,572				82,999				133,839				161,820				118,659

		Year Ended December 31,
		2004				2005(21)				2006				2007				2008
		(in thousands of dollars, except share and per share data and operating data)
BALANCE SHEET DATA
Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments		$	110,943			$	114,490			$	197,380			$	308,358			$	396,826
Accounts receivable, net			27,706				46,533				62,137				74,169				75,201
Total current assets			152,087				184,351				290,651				435,736				522,464
Purchase deposits for flight equipment			7,190				52,753				65,150				64,079				84,861
Total property and equipment			541,211				637,543				862,283				1,166,262				1,337,669
Total assets			702,050				916,912				1,255,015				1,707,251				1,954,225
Long-term debt			380,827				402,954				529,802				732,209				800,196
Total shareholders’ equity			174,155				245,867				371,669				531,637				632,432
Capital stock			29,223				29,223				32,563				37,372				42,964
CASH FLOW DATA
Net cash provided by operating activities		$	98,051			$	115,368			$	193,468			$	221,941			$	198,105
Net cash used in investing activities			(85,738	)			(159,886	)			(258,980	)			(334,758	)			(322,780	)
Net cash provided by financing activities			29,755				38,929				141,498				228,295				59,519
OTHER FINANCIAL DATA
EBITDA(4)			107,685				129,444				191,180				243,823				208,039
Aircraft rentals			14,445				27,631				38,169				38,636				43,008
Operating margin(5)			20.6	%			17.9	%			19.5	%			19.2	%			17.4	%
Weighted average shares used in computing net income per share (basic)(6)			42,812,500				42,812,500				42,812,500				42,907,967				43,142,515
Weighted average shares used in computing net income per share (diluted)(6)			42,812,500				42,812,500				43,234,553				43,463,759				43,439,879
Net income (loss) per share (basic)(6)		$	1.60			$	1.94			$	3.13			$	3.77			$	2.75
Net income (loss) per share (diluted)(6)		$	1.60			$	1.94			$	3.10			$	3.72			$	2.73
Dividends declared per share		$	0.23			$	0.24			$	0.19			$	0.31			$	0.37
OPERATING DATA
Revenue passengers carried(7)			2,333				4,361				5,741				6,015				6,485
Revenue passenger miles(8)			2,548				3,824				5,017				5,861				6,717
Available seat miles(9)			3,639				5,359				6,866				7,918				8,845
Load factor(10)			70.0	%			71.4	%			73.1	%			74.0	%			75.9	%
Break-even load factor(11)			52.6	%			57.9	%			58.0	%			58.6	%			67.1	%
Total block hours(12)			70,228				103,628				130,818				157,200				182,692
Average daily aircraft utilization(13)			9.3				9.8				9.8				9.6				9.6
Average passenger fare			156.3				129.2				139.2				160.8				187.7
Yield(14)			14.31				14.74				15.92				16.50				18.12
Passenger revenue per ASM(15)			10.02				10.51				11.64				12.21				13.76
Operating revenue per ASM(16)			10.99				11.36				12.40				12.97				14.57
Operating expenses per ASM (CASM)(17)			8.72				9.32				9.98				10.48				12.04
Departures			27,434				48,934				65,471				71,893				79,664
Average daily departures			75.0				156.6				179.4				197.0				217.7
Average number of aircraft			20.6				31.0				38.6				45.0				52.0
Airports served at period end			29				36				42				46				51

		Year Ended December 31,
		2004				2005(21)				2006				2007				2008
		(in thousands of dollars, except share and per share data and operating data)
SEGMENT FINANCIAL DATA
Copa:
Operating revenue		$	399,837			$	505,655			$	676,168			$	806,201			$	1,035,945
Operating expenses			317,494				402,684				509,540				634,521				827,714
Depreciation			19,279				19,242				23,732				30,710				38,108
Aircraft rentals			14,445				22,096				23,842				27,756				31,271
Interest expense			16,488				19,424				26,907				36,300				36,208
Interest capitalized			963				1,089				1,712				2,570				1,921
Interest income			1,423				3,376				6,887				11,720				10,514
Net income (loss) before tax			74,304				89,745				155,533				165,571				130,851
Total assets			702,050				851,075				1,168,121				1,546,623				1,823,512
AeroRepública:
Operating revenue			¾			$	103,016			$	175,883			$	226,042			$	264,912
Operating expenses			¾				96,839				176,388				200,474				249,152
Depreciation			¾				615				1,142				4,618				4,783
Aircraft rentals			¾				5,535				14,604				14,760				22,732
Interest expense			¾				2,205				2,243				8,032				5,863
Interest capitalized			¾				¾				¾				¾				¾
Interest income			¾				168				370				473				616
Net income (loss) before tax			¾				2,846				(9,408	)			13,354				5,277
Total assets			¾				98,091				132,872				256,349				258,562
SEGMENT OPERATING DATA
Copa:
Available seat miles(9)			3,639				4,409				5,239				6,298				7,342
Load factor(10)			70.0	%			73.4	%			77.8	%			78.4	%			78.8	%
Break-even load factor			52.6	%			56.8	%			56.1	%			58.7	%			67.2	%
Yield(14)			14.31				14.41				15.49				15.33				16.81
Operating revenue per ASM(16)			10.99				11.47				12.91				12.80				14.11
CASM(17)			8.72				9.13				9.73				10.08				11.27
Average stage length(19)			1,047				1,123				1,158				1,207				1,216
On time performance(18)			91.8	%			91.7	%			91.0	%			86.9	%			87.5	%
AeroRepública:(22)
Available seat miles(9)			¾				950				1,627				1,620				1,503
Load factor(10)			¾				62.0	%			57.9	%			57.2	%			61.7	%
Break even load factor			¾				60.7	%			61.9	%			54.1	%			62.0	%
Yield(14)			¾				16.53				17.79				22.74				26.31
Operating revenue per ASM(16)			¾				10.84				10.81				13.95				17.63
CASM(17)			¾				10.19				10.84				12.37				16.58
Average stage length(19)			¾				360				370				398				421
On time performance(20)			¾				70.4	%			80.3	%			72.8	%			84.2	%

		Year Ended December 31,
		2004				2005				2006				2007				2008
		(in thousands of dollars)
Net income		$	68,572			$	82,999			$	133,839			$	161,820			$	118,659
Interest expense			16,488				21,629				29,150				44,332				42,071
Income taxes			5,732				9,592				12,286				17,106				17,469
Depreciation			19,279				19,857				24,874				35,328				42,891
Subtotal			110,071				134,077				200,149				258,586				221,090
Interest capitalized			(963	)			(1,089	)			(1,712	)			(2,570	)			(1,921	)
Interest income			(1,423	)			(3,544	)			(7,257	)			(12,193	)			(11,130	)
EBITDA			107,685				129,444				191,180				243,823				208,039

B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable

C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable

D. Risk Factors

An investment in our Class A shares involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks. The trading price of our Class A shares could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment. The risks described below are those known to us and that we currently believe may materially affect us.

Risks Relating to Our Company

Our failure to successfully implement our growth strategy may adversely affect our results of operations and harm the market value of our Class A shares.

We have grown rapidly over the past eight years. During the next several years we intend to continue to grow our fleet, expand our service to new markets and increase the frequency of flights to the markets we currently serve. Achieving these goals is essential in order for our business to benefit from cost efficiencies resulting from economies of scale. We expect to have substantial cash needs as we expand, including cash required to fund aircraft purchases or aircraft deposits as we add to our fleet. We cannot assure you that we will have sufficient cash to fund such projects, and if we are unable to successfully expand our route system, our future revenue and earnings growth would be limited.

When we commence a new route, our load factors tend to be lower than those on our established routes and our advertising and other promotional costs tend to be higher, which may result in initial losses that could have a negative impact on our results of operations as well as require a substantial amount of cash to fund. We also periodically run special promotional fare campaigns, particularly in connection with the opening of new routes. Promotional fares may have the effect of increasing load factors while reducing our yield on such routes during the period that they are in effect. The number of markets we serve and our flight frequencies depend on our ability to identify the appropriate geographic markets upon which to focus and to gain suitable airport access and route approval in these markets. There can be no assurance that the new markets we enter will provide passenger traffic that is sufficient to make our operations in those new markets profitable. Any condition that would prevent or delay our access to key airports or routes, including limitations on the ability to process more passengers, the imposition of flight capacity restrictions, the inability to secure additional route rights under bilateral agreements or the inability to maintain our existing slots and obtain additional slots, could constrain the expansion of our operations.

The expansion of our business will also require additional skilled personnel, equipment and facilities. The inability to hire and retain skilled pilots and other personnel or secure the required equipment and facilities efficiently and cost-effectively may adversely affect our ability to execute our growth strategy. In recent years, the airline industry has experienced a pilot shortage that has disproportionately affected smaller and regional carriers, such as Copa. Expansion of our markets and flight frequencies may also strain our existing management resources and operational, financial and management information systems to the point where they may no longer be adequate to support our operations, requiring us to make significant expenditures in these areas. In light of these factors, we cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully establish new markets or expand our existing markets, and our failure to do so could harm our business and results of operations, as well as the value of our Class A shares.

Our performance is heavily dependent on economic conditions in the countries in which we do business.

Passenger demand is heavily cyclical and highly dependent on global and local economic growth, economic expectations and foreign exchange rate variations. In the past, we have been negatively impacted by poor economic performance in certain emerging market countries in which we operate. Any of the following developments in the countries in which we operate could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations:

•

changes in economic or other governmental policies;

•

changes in regulatory, legal or administrative practices; or

•

other political or economic developments over which we have no control.

While our “hub-and-spoke” business model allows us the flexibility to focus on the most profitable, high-demand routes, decreased demand on any such route may disproportionately affect our business, financial condition and results of operation in the short term.

Additionally, a significant portion of our revenues is derived from discretionary and leisure travel which are especially sensitive to economic downturns. Current economic conditions could result in a reduction in passenger traffic, and leisure travel in particular, as well as a reduction in our cargo business, which in turn would materially and negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations. Any perception of further weakening of economic conditions in this region could likewise negatively affect our ability to obtain financing to meet our future capital needs in international capital markets.

The cost of refinancing our debt and obtaining additional financing for new aircraft has increased and may continue to increase.

We currently finance our aircraft through bank loans and operating leases. In the past, we have been able to obtain lease or debt financing on terms attractive to us. We have obtained most of the financing for our Boeing aircraft purchases from commercial financial institutions utilizing guarantees provided by the Export-Import Bank of the United States. The Export-Import Bank provides guarantees to companies that purchase goods from U.S. companies for export, enabling them to obtain financing at substantially lower interest rates as compared to those that they could obtain without a guarantee. The Export-Import Bank does not provide similar guarantees in connection with financing for our aircraft purchases from Embraer since those aircraft are not exports from the United States. At December 31, 2008, we had $379.3 million of outstanding indebtedness that is owed to financial institutions under financing arrangements guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank. We cannot predict whether the Export-Import Bank’s credit support will continue to be available to us to fund future purchases of Boeing aircraft. The Export-Import Bank may in the future limit its exposure to Panama-based companies, to our airline or to airlines generally, or may encourage us to diversify our credit sources by limiting future guarantees.

Similarly, we cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to raise financing from past sources, or from other sources, on terms comparable to our existing financing or at all. The ongoing uncertainty in the credit markets of the United States and the related turmoil in the global financial system has tightened the availability of credit and has increased the cost of obtaining lease or debt financing. If the cost of such financing continues to increase or we are unable to obtain such financing, we may be forced to modify our aircraft acquisition plans or to incur higher than anticipated financing costs, which could have an adverse impact on the execution of our growth strategy and business.

We are dependent on our alliance with Continental and cannot assure you that it will continue.

We maintain a broad commercial and marketing alliance with Continental Airlines, Inc., or Continental, that has allowed us to enhance our network and, in some cases, offer our customers services that we could not otherwise offer. If Continental were to experience severe financial difficulties or go bankrupt, our alliance and service agreements may be terminated or we may not realize the anticipated benefits from our relationship with Continental. While Continental recorded net income of $459 million, for 2007, it has also suffered significant losses in recent years and has indicated that several factors threaten its ability to maintain profitability, including high fuel cost, the troubled global capital markets, industry competition and terrorism or other international hostilities. We cannot assure you that Continental will be able to maintain its profitability, and as a result, we may be materially and adversely affected by a deterioration of Continental’s financial condition.

Since we began the alliance in 1998, we have benefited from Continental’s support in negotiations for aircraft purchases, insurance and fuel purchases, sharing of “best practices” and engineering support in our maintenance operations, and significant other intangible support. This support has assisted us in our growth strategy, while also improving our operational performance and the quality of our service. Our alliance relationship with Continental is the subject of a grant of antitrust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation, or DOT. If our relationship with Continental were to deteriorate, or our alliance relationship were no longer to benefit from a grant of antitrust immunity, or our alliance or services agreements were terminated, our business, financial condition and results of operations would likely be materially and adversely affected. The loss of Copa’s codesharing relationship with Continental would likely result in a significant decrease in our revenues. We also rely on Continental’s OnePass frequent flyer program that we participate in globally and on a co-branded basis in Latin America, and our business may be adversely affected if the OnePass program does not remain a competitive marketing program. In addition, our competitors may benefit from alliances with other airlines that are more extensive than our alliance with Continental. We cannot predict the extent to which we will be disadvantaged by competing alliances. Our relationship with suppliers depends in part on our alliance with Continental.

We operate using a hub-and-spoke model and are vulnerable to competitors offering direct flights between destinations we serve.

The structure of substantially all of our current flight operations (other than those of AeroRepública) generally follows what is known in the airline industry as a “hub-and-spoke” model. This model aggregates passengers by operating flights from a number of “spoke” origins to a central hub through which they are transported to their final destinations. In recent years, many traditional hub-and-spoke operators have faced significant and increasing competitive pressure from low-cost, point-to-point carriers on routes with sufficient demand to sustain point-to-point service. A point-to-point structure enables airlines to focus on the most profitable, high-demand routes and to offer greater convenience and, in many instances, lower fares. As demand for air travel in Latin America increases, some of our competitors have initiated non-stop service between destinations that we currently serve through our Panamanian hub. Non-stop service, which bypasses our hub in Panama is more convenient and possibly less expensive, than our connecting service and could significantly decrease demand for our service to those destinations. We believe that competition from point-to-point carriers will be directed towards the largest markets that we serve and such competition is likely to continue at this level or intensify in the future. As a result, the effect of such competition on us could be significant and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Panamanian Aviation Act and certain of the bilateral agreements under which we operate contain Panamanian ownership requirements that are not clearly defined, and our failure to comply with these requirements could cause us to lose our authority to operate in Panama or to the international destinations we serve.

Under Law No. 21 of January 29, 2003, which regulates the aviation industry in the Republic of Panama and which we refer to as the Aviation Act, “substantial ownership” and “effective control” of our airline must remain in the hands of Panamanian nationals. Under certain of the bilateral agreements between Panama and other countries pursuant to which we have the right to fly to those other countries and over their territory, we must continue to have substantial Panamanian ownership and effective control by Panamanian nationals to retain these rights. Neither “substantial ownership” nor “effective control” are defined in the Aviation Act or in the bilateral agreements, and it is unclear how a Panamanian court or, in the case of the bilateral agreements, foreign regulatory authorities might interpret these requirements. In addition, the manner in which these requirements are interpreted may change over time. We cannot predict whether these requirements would be satisfied through ownership and control by Panamanian record holders, or if these requirements would be satisfied only by direct and indirect ownership and control by Panamanian beneficial owners.

At the present time, Corporación de Inverstiones Aereas, S.A., or CIASA, a Panamanian entity, is the record owner of all of our Class B voting shares, representing approximately 29.2% of our total share capital and all of the voting power of our capital stock.

On November 25, 2005, the Executive Branch of the Government of Panama promulgated a decree stating that the “substantial ownership” and “effective control” requirements of the Aviation Act are met if a Panamanian citizen or a Panamanian company is the record holder of shares representing 51% or more of the voting power of the company. Although the decree has the force of law for so long as it remains in effect, it does not supersede the Aviation Act, and it can be modified or superseded at any time by a future Executive Branch decree. Additionally, the decree has no binding effect on regulatory authorities of other countries whose bilateral agreements impose Panamanian ownership and control limitations on us. We cannot assure you that the decree will not be challenged, modified or superseded in the future, that CIASA will continue to own a majority of the Class B shares, or that record ownership of a majority of our Class B shares by Panamanian entities will be sufficient to satisfy the “substantial ownership” requirement of the Aviation Act and the decree. A change in the ownership of the Class B shares or a determination by the Panamanian Civil Aviation Authority (the Autoridad de Aeronáutica Civil), which we refer to as the AAC, or a Panamanian court that “substantial” Panamanian ownership should be determined on the basis of our direct and indirect ownership, could cause us to lose our license to operate our airline in Panama. Likewise, if a foreign regulatory authority were to determine that our direct or indirect Panamanian ownership fails to satisfy the minimum Panamanian ownership requirements for a Panamanian carrier under the applicable bilateral agreement, we may lose the benefit of that agreement and be prohibited from flying to the relevant country or over its territory. Any such determination would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as on the value of the Class A shares.

Our business is subject to extensive regulation which may restrict our growth or our operations or increase our costs.

Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected if we or certain aviation authorities in the countries to which we fly fail to maintain the required foreign and domestic governmental authorizations necessary for our operations. In order to maintain the necessary authorizations issued by the AAC and other corresponding foreign authorities, we must continue to comply with applicable statutes, rules and regulations pertaining to the airline industry, including any rules and regulations that may be adopted in the future. We cannot predict or control any actions that the AAC or foreign aviation regulators may take in the future, which could include restricting our operations or imposing new and costly regulations. Also, our fares are technically subject to review by the AAC and the regulators of certain other countries to which we fly, any of which may in the future impose restrictions on our fares.

We are also subject to international bilateral air transport agreements that provide for the exchange of air traffic rights between Panama and various other countries, and we must obtain permission from the applicable foreign governments to provide service to foreign destinations. There can be no assurance that existing bilateral agreements between the countries in which our airline operating companies are based and foreign governments will continue, or that we will be able to obtain more route rights under those agreements to accommodate our future expansion plans. A modification, suspension or revocation of one or more bilateral agreements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The suspension of our permits to operate to certain airports or destinations, the cancellation of any of our provisional routes or the imposition of other sanctions could also have a material adverse effect. In 2007, for example, our third daily frequency to Mexico City, which was under provisional permit, was not extended by the Mexican civil aviation authority. This development did not have a material adverse effect on our business, but it is indicative of the route changes to which we may be subject. Due to the nature of bilateral agreements, we can fly to many destinations only from Panama. We cannot assure you that a change in a foreign government’s administration of current laws and regulations or the adoption of new laws and regulations will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We plan to continue to increase the scale of our operations and revenues by expanding our presence on new and existing routes. Our ability to successfully implement this strategy will depend upon many factors, several of which are outside our control or subject to change. These factors include the permanence of a suitable political, economic and regulatory environment in the Latin American countries in which we operate or intend to operate and our ability to identify strategic local partners.

The most active government regulator among the countries to which we fly is the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA. The FAA from time to time issues directives and other regulations relating to the maintenance and operation of aircraft that require significant expenditures. FAA requirements cover, among other things, security measures, collision avoidance systems, airborne windshear avoidance systems, noise abatement and other environmental issues, and increased inspections and maintenance procedures to be conducted on older aircraft. We expect to continue incurring expenses to comply with the FAA’s regulations, and any increase in the cost of compliance could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Additional new regulations continue to be regularly implemented by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, as well.

The growth of our operations to the United States and the benefits of our code-sharing arrangements with Continental are dependent on Panama’s continued favorable safety assessment.

The FAA periodically audits the aviation regulatory authorities of other countries. As a result of its investigation, each country is given an International Aviation Safety Assessment, or IASA, rating. Since April 2004, IASA has rated Panama as a Category 1 jurisdiction. We cannot assure you that the government of Panama, and the AAC in particular, will continue to meet international safety standards, and we have no direct control over their compliance with IASA guidelines. If Panama’s IASA rating were to be downgraded in the future, it could prohibit us from increasing service to the United States and Continental would have to suspend the placing of its code on our flights, causing us to lose direct revenue from codesharing as well as reducing flight options to our customers.

We are highly dependent on our hub at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport.

Our business is heavily dependent on our operations at our hub at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport. Substantially all of our Copa flights either depart from or arrive at our hub. The hub-and-spoke structure of our operations is particularly dependent on the on-time arrival of tightly coordinated groupings of flights to ensure that passengers can make timely connections to continuing flights. Like other airlines, we are subject to delays caused by factors beyond our control, including air traffic congestion at airports, adverse weather conditions and increased security measures. Delays inconvenience passengers, reduce aircraft utilization and increase costs, all of which in turn negatively affect our profitability. A significant interruption or disruption in service at Tocumen International Airport could have a serious impact on our business, financial condition and operating results. Also, Tocumen International Airport provides international service to the Republic of Panama’s population of approximately 3.4 million, whereas the hub markets of our current competitors tend to be much larger, providing those competitors with a larger base of customers at their hub.

Tocumen International Airport is operated by a corporation that is controlled by the government of the Republic of Panama. We depend on our good working relationship with the quasi-governmental corporation that operates the airport to ensure that we have adequate access to aircraft parking positions, landing rights and gate assignments for our aircraft to accommodate our current operations and future plans for expansion. The corporation that operates Tocumen International Airport does not enter into any formal, written leases or other agreements with airlines that govern rights to use the airport’s jetways or aircraft parking spaces. Therefore, in connection with the ongoing or future expansion of the airport, the airport authority could assign new capacity to competing airlines or could reassign resources that are currently used by us to other aircraft operators. Either such event could result in significant new competition for our routes or could otherwise have a material adverse effect on our current operations or ability for future growth.

We are exposed to increases in landing charges and other airport access fees and cannot be assured access to adequate facilities and landing rights necessary to achieve our expansion plans.

We must pay fees to airport operators for the use of their facilities. Any substantial increase in airport charges could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations. Passenger taxes and airport charges have also increased in recent years, sometimes substantially. Certain important airports that we use may be privatized in the near future which is likely to result in significant cost increases to the airlines that use these airports. We cannot assure you that the airports used by us will not impose, or further increase, passenger taxes and airport charges in the future, and any such increases could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Certain airports that we serve (or that we plan to serve in the future) are subject to capacity constraints and impose slot restrictions during certain periods of the day. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain a sufficient number of slots, gates and other facilities at airports to expand our services as we are proposing to do. It is also possible that airports not currently subject to capacity constraints may become so in the future. In addition, an airline must use its slots on a regular and timely basis or risk having those slots re-allocated to others. Where slots or other airport resources are not available or their availability is restricted in some way, we may have to amend our schedules, change routes or reduce aircraft utilization. Any of these alternatives could have an adverse financial impact on us.

Some of the airports to which we fly impose various restrictions, including limits on aircraft noise levels, limits on the number of average daily departures and curfews on runway use. In addition, we cannot assure you that airports at which there are no such restrictions may not implement restrictions in the future or that, where such restrictions exist, they may not become more onerous. Such restrictions may limit our ability to continue to provide or to increase services at such airports.

We have significant fixed financing costs and expect to incur additional fixed costs as we expand our fleet.

The airline business is characterized by high leverage, and we have a high level of indebtedness. We also have significant expenditures in connection with our operating leases and facility rental costs, and substantially all of our property and equipment is pledged to secure indebtedness. For the year ended December 31, 2008, our interest expense and aircraft and facility rental expense under operating leases aggregated $98.5 million. At December 31, 2008, approximately 47% of our total indebtedness bore interest at fixed rates, and a small portion of our lease obligations was determined with reference to LIBOR. Accordingly, our financing and rent expense will not decrease significantly if market interest rates decline.

As of December 31, 2008, we had firm commitments to purchase 13 Boeing 737-Next Generation, with an aggregate manufacturer’s list price of approximately $1.0 billion. We will require substantial capital from external sources to meet our future financial commitments. The continued credit crisis and related turmoil in the global financial system has increased and may continue to increase the costs of such financing. In addition, the acquisition and financing of these aircraft will likely result in a substantial increase in our leverage and fixed financing costs. A high degree of leverage and fixed payment obligations could:

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limit our ability in the future to obtain additional financing for working capital or other important needs;

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impair our liquidity by diverting substantial cash from our operating needs to service fixed financing obligations; or

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limit our ability to plan for or react to changes in our business, in the airline industry or in general economic conditions.

Any one of these could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our existing debt financing agreements and our aircraft operating leases contain restrictive covenants that impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us.

Our aircraft financing loans and operating leases and the instruments governing our other indebtedness contain a number of significant covenants and restrictions that limit our ability and our subsidiaries’ ability to:

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create material liens on our assets;

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take certain actions that may impair creditors’ rights to our aircraft;

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sell assets or engage in certain mergers or consolidations; and

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engage in other specified significant transactions.

In addition, several of our aircraft financing agreements require us to maintain compliance with specified financial ratios and other financial and operating tests. For example, our access to certain borrowings under our aircraft financing arrangements is conditioned upon our maintenance of minimum debt service coverage and capitalization ratios. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Liquidity and Capital Resources.” Complying with these covenants may cause us to take actions that make it more difficult to execute successfully our business strategy, and we may face competition from companies not subject to such restrictions. Moreover, our failure to comply with these covenants could result in an event of default or refusal by our creditors to extend certain of our loans.

If we fail to successfully take delivery of or reliably operate new aircraft, our business could be harmed.

In recent years we have decided to incorporate a number of new aircraft, including Embraer 190 aircraft. Through the end of 2008, Copa and AeroRepublica had accepted delivery of 15 and 9 Embraer 190 aircraft, respectively. The decision to incorporate new aircraft has been based on their potential to enhance customer satisfaction and increase efficiency. Acquisition of new aircraft, involves a variety of risks relating to its ability to be successfully placed into service including:

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difficulties or delays in obtaining the necessary certifications from the aviation regulatory authorities of the countries to which we fly;

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manufacturer’s delays in meeting the agreed upon aircraft delivery schedule;

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difficulties in obtaining financing on acceptable terms to complete our purchase of all of the aircraft we have committed to purchase; and

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the inability of the new aircraft and its components to comply with agreed upon specifications and performance standards.

If we fail to successfully take delivery of, or reliably operate new aircraft, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.

If we were to determine that our aircraft, rotable parts or inventory were impaired, it would have a significant adverse effect on our operating results.

We perform impairment reviews when there are particular risks of impairment or other indicators described in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 144, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, in order to determine whether we need to reduce the carrying value of our aircraft and related assets with a related charge to our earnings. In addition to the fact that the value of our fleet declines as it ages, any potential excess capacity in the airline industry, airline bankruptcies and other factors beyond our control may further contribute to the decline of the fair market value of our aircraft and related rotable parts and inventory. If such impairment does occur, we would be required under U.S. GAAP to write down these assets to their estimated fair market value through a charge to earnings. A significant charge to earnings would adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. In addition, the interest rates on and the availability of certain of our aircraft financing loans are tied to the value of the aircraft securing the loans. If those values were to decrease substantially, our interest rates may rise or the lenders under those loans may cease extending credit to us, either of which could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on information technology systems, and we may become more dependent on such systems in the future.

We rely upon information technology systems to operate our business and increase our efficiency. We are highly reliant on certain critical systems, such as the Sceptre and Visaer systems for maintenance, the “SHARES” computer reservation and check-in system and the Airmax revenue management system. Other systems are designed to decrease distribution costs through Internet reservations and to maximize cargo distributions. These systems may not deliver their anticipated benefits. Also, in transitioning to new systems we may lose data or experience interruptions in service, which could harm our business.

Our quarterly results can fluctuate substantially, and the trading price of our Class A shares may be affected by such variations.

The airline industry is by nature cyclical and seasonal, and our operating results may vary from quarter to quarter. We tend to experience the highest levels of traffic and revenue in July and August, with a smaller peak in traffic in December and January. In general, demand for air travel is higher in the third and fourth quarters, particularly in international markets, because of the increase in vacation travel during these periods relative to the remainder of the year. We generally experience our lowest levels of passenger traffic in April and May. Given our high proportion of fixed costs, seasonality can affect our profitability from quarter to quarter. Demand for air travel is also affected by factors such as economic conditions, war or the threat of war, fare levels and weather conditions.

Due to the factors described above and others described in this annual report, quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our operating results may not be good indicators of our future performance. In addition, it is possible that in any quarter our operating results could be below the expectations of investors and any published reports or analyses regarding our company. In that event, the price of our Class A shares could decline, perhaps substantially.

Our reputation and financial results could be harmed in the event of an accident or incident involving our aircraft.

An accident or incident involving one of our aircraft could involve significant claims by injured passengers and others, as well as significant costs related to the repair or replacement of a damaged aircraft and its temporary or permanent loss from service. In July of 2007, one of our AeroRepública Embraer 190s overran a wet runway at Santa Marta, Colombia. The accident did not cause any serious injuries but the aircraft sustained damages causing its permanent removal from service. We are required by our creditors and the lessors of our aircraft under our operating lease agreements to carry liability insurance, but the amount of such liability insurance coverage may not be adequate and we may be forced to bear substantial losses in the event of any future accident. Our insurance premiums may also increase due to an accident or incident affecting one of our aircraft. Substantial claims resulting from an accident in excess of our related insurance coverage or increased premiums would harm our business and financial results. Moreover, any aircraft accident or incident, even if fully insured, could cause the public to perceive us as less safe or reliable than other airlines which could harm our business and results of operations. Our business would also be significantly harmed if the public avoids flying our aircraft due to an adverse perception of the types of aircraft that we operate arising from safety concerns or other problems, whether real or perceived, or in the event of an accident involving those types of aircraft.

Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates could negatively affect our net income.

In 2008, approximately 69.7% of our expenses and 40.9% of our revenues were denominated in U.S. dollars. The remainder of our expenses and revenues were denominated in the currencies of the various countries to which we fly, with the largest non-dollar amount denominated in Colombian Pesos. As a result of the acquisition of AeroRepública in April 2005, we have an increased exposure to the Colombian Peso. If any of these currencies decline in value against the U.S. dollar, our revenues, expressed in U.S. dollars, and our operating margin would be adversely affected. We may not be able to adjust our fares denominated in other currencies to offset any increases in U.S. dollar-denominated expenses, increases in interest expense or exchange losses on fixed obligations or indebtedness denominated in foreign currency. Copa currently does not hedge the risk of fluctuation in foreign exchange rates. AeroRepública currently has hedges in place with respect to some of its U.S. dollar / Colombian Peso exposure. We are exposed to exchange rate losses, as well as gains, due to the fluctuation in the value of local currencies vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar during the period of time (typically between 1 to 2 weeks) between the time we are paid in local currencies and the time we are able to repatriate the revenues in U.S. dollars. Exchange controls in Venezuela, however, delay our ability to repatriate cash generated from operations in Venezuela and increase our U.S. dollar/Venezuelan Bolivar exposure.

Our maintenance costs will increase as Copa’s fleet ages and as we perform maintenance on AeroRepública’s older fleet.

The average age of Copa’s fleet was approximately 4.2 years as of December 31, 2008. In past years we have incurred a low level of maintenance expenses because most of the parts on Copa’s aircraft were still covered under multi-year warranties. We expect that our maintenance costs will increase significantly, both on an absolute basis and as a percentage of our operating expenses as our fleet ages and these warranties expire.

In recent years, AeroRepública’s fleet average age has decreased significantly, as a result of the fleet renewal program which has replaced older MD-80 aircraft with new Embraer-190 aircraft. As of December 31, 2008, the average age of AeroRepública’s fleet was approximately 5.7 years. We believe the MD-80 aircraft operated by AeroRepública will likely be less reliable than its newer aircraft and can be expected to require significantly greater expenditures on maintenance, which may lead to an overall increase in our consolidated operating expenses.

If we enter into a prolonged dispute with any of our employees, many of whom are represented by unions, or if we are required to increase substantially the salaries or benefits of our employees, it may have an adverse impact on our operations and cash flows.

Approximately 49% of the Company’s employees belong to a labor union. There are currently five unions covering our Copa employees based in Panama: the pilots’ union; the flight attendants’ union; the mechanics’ union; the traffic attendants’ union; and a generalized union, which represents baggage handlers, aircraft cleaners, counter agents, and other non-executive administrative staff. Copa entered into new collective bargaining agreements with its general union on July 2008, its flight attendants’ union on April 2006 and its pilot union on November 2007. After extensive negotiations which did not lead to a mutually satisfactory resolution, Copa and the mechanics’ union entered into a government-mandated arbitration, and a collective bargaining agreement was agreed to on March 29, 2006 as a result of such arbitration proceedings. Previously, Copa has not had to resort to arbitration to resolve negotiations with its unions. Collective bargaining agreements in Panama are typically between three and four year terms. We also have union contracts with our Copa employees in Brazil and Mexico. AeroRepública is a party to collective bargaining agreements that cover all of AeroRepública’s 160 pilots and co-pilots and all of AeroRepública’s 208 flight attendants. A strike, work interruption or stoppage or any prolonged dispute with our employees who are represented by any of these unions could have an adverse impact on our operations. These risks are typically exacerbated during periods of renegotiation with the unions. Any renegotiated collective bargaining agreement could feature significant wage increases and a consequent increase in our operating expenses. Employees outside of Panama that are not currently members of unions may also form new unions that may seek further wage increases or benefits.

Our business is labor intensive. We expect salaries, wages and benefits to increase on a gross basis, and these costs could increase as a percentage of our overall costs. If we are unable to hire, train and retain qualified pilots and other employees at a reasonable cost, our business could be harmed and we may be unable to complete our expansion plans.

Our investment in AeroRepública may not generate the benefits we sought when we purchased the company.

In the second quarter of 2005, we purchased AeroRepública, a Colombian airline currently providing point-to-point service among 12 cities within Colombia and international service to Panama City and Caracas. AeroRepública’s results of operations are highly sensitive to competitive conditions in the Colombian domestic air travel market. AeroRepública’s rapid growth in recent years came during a period in which the domestic market leader, Aerovías del Continente Americano S.A. (Avianca), experienced severe financial difficulties that resulted in its bankruptcy and the exit from the market of several other competitors. Avianca has emerged from bankruptcy with new management and an improved financial condition. It is therefore likely that AeroRepública will face stronger competition in the future than it has in recent years, and its prior results may not be indicative of its future performance.

AeroRepública’s results of operations are significantly less profitable than those of Copa. AeroRepública has experienced losses in recent periods and may have continuing net losses in future fiscal periods. We may not be able to achieve the cost savings and other improvements we seek at AeroRepública, and our failure to do so would harm our consolidated operating margins and results of operations. Our investment in AeroRepública is subject to many risks and uncertainties that will ultimately determine whether the acquisition will continue to increase our overall profitability. See “Item 4B. Business Overview—AeroRepública.”

Our revenues depend on our relationship with travel agents and tour operators.

In 2008, approximately 56% of our revenues were derived from tickets sold by travel agents or tour operators. We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain favorable relationships with these ticket sellers. Our revenues could be adversely impacted if travel agents or tour operators elect to favor other airlines or to disfavor us. Our relationship with travel agents and tour operators may be affected by:

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the size of commissions offered by other airlines;

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changes in our arrangements with other distributors of airline tickets; and

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the introduction and growth of new methods of selling tickets.

We rely on third parties to provide our customers and us with facilities and services that are integral to our business.

We have entered into agreements with third-party contractors to provide certain facilities and services required for our operations, such as heavy aircraft and engine maintenance; call center services; and catering, ground handling, cargo and baggage handling, or “below the wing” aircraft services. For example, at airports other than Tocumen International Airport, all of the “below the wing” aircraft services for Copa flights are performed by contractors. AeroRepública contracts ground handling equipment and “below the wing” tasks in twelve of the fourteen cities it serves. Overhaul maintenance and “C-checks” for Copa are handled by contractors in the United States, Panama and Costa Rica, and some line maintenance for Copa is handled at certain airports by contract workers rather than our employees. Substantially all of our agreements with third-party contractors are subject to termination on short notice. The loss or expiration of these agreements or our inability to renew these agreements or to negotiate new agreements with other providers at comparable rates could harm our business and results of operations. Further, our reliance on third parties to provide essential services on our behalf gives us less control over the costs, efficiency, timeliness and quality of those services. A contractor’s negligence could compromise our aircraft or endanger passengers and crew. This could also have a material adverse effect on our business. We expect to be dependent on such agreements for the foreseeable future and if we enter any new market, we will need to have similar agreements in place.

We depend on a limited number of suppliers.

We are subject to the risks of having a limited number of suppliers for our aircraft and engines. One of the elements of our business strategy is to save costs by operating a simplified aircraft fleet. Copa currently operates the Boeing 737-700/800 Next Generation aircraft powered by CFM 56-7B engines from CFM International and the Embraer 190, powered by General Electric CF 34-10 engines. AeroRepública currently operates the Embraer 190, powered by General Electric CF 34-10 engines and MD-80 fleet powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 engines. With the exception of the MD-80 fleet, which is currently being phased out of operation in connection with our fleet renovation strategy, we currently intend to continue to rely exclusively on these aircraft for the foreseeable future. If any of Boeing, Embraer, CFM International or GE Engines were unable to perform their contractual obligations, or if we are unable to acquire or lease new aircraft or engines from aircraft or engine manufacturers or lessors on acceptable terms, we would have to find another supplier for a similar type of aircraft or engine.

If we have to lease or purchase aircraft from another supplier, we could lose the benefits we derive from our current fleet composition. We cannot assure you that any replacement aircraft would have the same operating advantages as the Boeing 737-700/800 Next Generation or Embraer 190 aircraft that would be replaced or that Copa could lease or purchase engines that would be as reliable and efficient as the CFM 56-7B and GE CF34-10. We may also incur substantial transition costs, including costs associated with retraining our employees, replacing our manuals and adapting our facilities. Our operations could also be harmed by the failure or inability of Boeing, Embraer, CFM International or GE Engines to provide sufficient parts or related support services on a timely basis.

Our business would be significantly harmed if a design defect or mechanical problem with any of the types of aircraft or components that we operate were discovered that would ground any of our aircraft while the defect or problem was corrected, assuming it could be corrected at all. The use of our aircraft could be suspended or restricted by regulatory authorities in the event of any actual or perceived mechanical or design problems. Our business would also be significantly harmed if the public began to avoid flying with us due to an adverse perception of the types of aircraft that we operate stemming from safety concerns or other problems, whether real or perceived, or in the event of an accident involving those types of aircraft or components.

We also depend on limited suppliers with respect to supplies obtained locally, such as our fuel supply. These local suppliers may not be able to maintain the pace of our growth and our requirements may exceed their capabilities, which may adversely affect our ability to execute our growth strategy

We are dependent on key personnel.

Our success depends to a significant extent upon the efforts and abilities of our senior management team and key financial, commercial, operating and maintenance personnel. In particular, we depend on the services of our senior management team, including Pedro Heilbron, our Chief Executive Officer, Victor Vial, our Chief Financial Officer, Daniel Gunn, our Chief Operating Officer and Joe Mohan, our Vice-President of Commercial and Planning. Competition for highly qualified personnel is intense, and the loss of any executive officer, senior manager or other key employee without adequate replacement or the inability to attract new qualified personnel could have a material adverse effect upon our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our operations in Cuba, which has been identified by the U.S. Department of State as a state sponsor of terrorism, may adversely affect our reputation and the liquidity and value of our Class A shares.

We currently operate approximately eight daily departures to and from Cuba which provide passenger, cargo and mail transportation service. For the year ended December 31, 2008, our transported passengers to and from Cuba represented approximately 4.8% of our total passengers carried. Our operating revenues from Cuban operations during the year ended December 31, 2008 represented approximately 6.4% of our total consolidated operating revenues for such year. Our assets located in Cuba are insignificant.

Cuba has been identified by the United States government as a state sponsor of terrorism, and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy against Cuba and certain other targeted foreign countries. You should understand that our overall business reputation may suffer as a result of our activities in Cuba, particularly if such activities grow in the future. Certain U.S. states have recently enacted legislation regarding investments by pension funds and other retirement systems in companies, such as ours, that have business activities with Cuba and other countries that have been identified as terrorist-sponsoring states. Similar legislation may be pending in other states. As a result, pension funds and other retirement systems may be subject to new reporting requirements and other burdensome restrictions with respect to investments in companies such as ours. Pension funds and similar institutions represent an important source of demand for our shares, and if their willingness to invest in and hold our shares were to diminish as a result of any such requirements or restrictions, or for any other reason, it would likely have a material adverse effect on the liquidity and value of our Class A shares.

Risks Relating to the Airline Industry

The airline industry is highly competitive.

We face intense competition throughout our route network. Overall airline industry profit margins are low and industry earnings are volatile. Airlines compete in the areas of pricing, scheduling (frequency and flight times), on-time performance, frequent flyer programs and other services. We compete with a number of other airlines that currently serve some of the routes on which we operate, including Grupo TACA, American Airlines Inc., Delta Air Lines, Mexicana and Avianca. Some of our competitors, such as American Airlines, have larger customer bases and greater brand recognition in the markets we serve outside Panama, and some of our competitors have significantly greater financial and marketing resources than we have. Airlines based in other countries may also receive subsidies, tax incentives or other state aid from their respective governments, which are not provided by the Panamanian government. The commencement of, or increase in, service on the routes we serve by existing or new carriers could negatively impact our operating results. Likewise, competitors’ service on routes that we are targeting for expansion may make those expansion plans less attractive.

We must constantly react to changes in prices and services offered by our competitors to remain competitive. The airline industry is highly susceptible to price discounting, particularly because airlines incur very low marginal costs for providing service to passengers occupying otherwise unsold seats. Carriers use discount fares to stimulate traffic during periods of lower demand to generate cash flow and to increase market share. Any lower fares offered by one airline are often matched by competing airlines, which often results in lower industry yields with little or no increase in traffic levels. Price competition among airlines in the future could lead to lower fares or passenger traffic on some or all of our routes, which could negatively impact our profitability. We cannot assure you that any of our competitors will not undercut our fares in the future or increase capacity on routes in an effort to increase their respective market share. Although we intend to compete vigorously and to assert our rights against any predatory conduct, such activity by other airlines could reduce the level of fares or passenger traffic on our routes to the point where profitable levels of operations could not be maintained. Due to our smaller size and financial resources compared to several of our competitors, we may be less able to withstand aggressive marketing tactics or fare wars engaged in by our competitors should such events occur.

We may face increasing competition from low-cost carriers offering discounted fares.

Traditional hub-and-spoke carriers in the United States and Europe have in recent years faced substantial and increasing competitive pressure from low-cost carriers offering discounted fares. The low-cost carriers’ operations are typically characterized by point-to-point route networks focusing on the highest demand city pairs, high aircraft utilization, single class service and fewer in-flight amenities. As evidenced by the operations of Gol Intelligent Airlines Inc., or Gol, which continues to grow both in Brazil as well as in other South American countries, Spirit, which serves Latin America from Fort Lauderdale, JetBlue, which has flies from Orlando to Bogota, and a number of low-cost carriers which operate within Mexico, among others, the low-cost carrier business model appears to be gaining acceptance in the Latin American aviation industry. As a result, we may face new and substantial competition from low-cost carriers in the future which could result in significant and lasting downward pressure on the fares we charge for flights on our routes.

Significant changes or extended periods of high fuel costs or fuel supply disruptions could materially affect our operating results.

Fuel costs constitute a significant portion of our total operating expenses, representing approximately 31.8% of our operating expenses in 2006, 32.0% in 2007 and 38.0% in 2008. Fuel prices reached record levels during the middle of 2008, but decreased substantially in the second half of 2008. Jet fuel costs have been subject to wide fluctuations as a result of increases in demand, sudden disruptions in and other concerns about global supply, as well as market speculation. Both the cost and availability of fuel are subject to many economic, political, weather, environmental and other factors and events occurring throughout the world that we can neither control nor accurately predict, including international political and economic circumstances such as the political instability in major oil-exporting countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Although we have entered into hedging agreements for a portion of our fuel needs through the fourth quarter of 2011, we have, in recent periods, entered into such hedging arrangements on a much more selective basis. These agreements provide only limited

protection against future increases in the price of fuel, and can be less effective during volatile market conditions. Fuel prices are likely to increase above their current levels and may do so in the near future. If a future fuel supply shortage were to arise as a result of production curtailments by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, a disruption of oil imports, supply disruptions resulting from severe weather or natural disasters, the continued unrest in Iraq, other conflicts in the Middle East or otherwise, higher fuel prices or further reductions of scheduled airline services could result. We cannot assure you that we would be able to offset any increases in the price of fuel by increasing our fares. Conversely, lower fuel prices may result in lower fares through the reduction or elimination of fuel surcharges. Significant increases in fuel costs would materially and negatively affect our operating results.

We may experience difficulty finding, training and retaining pilots and other employees.

The airline industry is currently experiencing a pilot shortage caused by extraordinary air traffic growth in the Persian Gulf, China and India; the rise of lucrative low-cost carriers in Europe and Asia; and the sustained recovery of the U.S. airlines from the industry recession caused by the September 11 terrorist attacks. This worldwide shortage of pilots disproportionately affects smaller and regional carriers. An inability to attract and retain pilots may adversely affect our growth strategy by limiting our ability to add new routes or increase the frequency of existing routes.

The airline industry is a labor-intensive business. We employ a large number of flight attendants, maintenance technicians and other operating and administrative personnel. The airline industry has, from time to time, experienced a shortage of qualified personnel. In addition, as is common with most of our competitors, we may, from time to time, face considerable turnover of our employees. Should the turnover of employees sharply increase, our training costs will be significantly higher. We cannot assure you that we will be able to recruit, train and retain the qualified employees that we need to continue our current operations or replace departing employees. A failure to hire and retain qualified employees at a reasonable cost could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Because the airline industry is characterized by high fixed costs and relatively elastic revenues, airlines cannot quickly reduce their costs to respond to shortfalls in expected revenue.

The airline industry is characterized by low gross profit margins, high fixed costs and revenues that generally exhibit substantially greater elasticity than costs. The operating costs of each flight do not vary significantly with the number of passengers flown and, therefore, a relatively small change in the number of passengers, fare pricing or traffic mix could have a significant effect on operating and financial results. These fixed costs cannot be adjusted quickly to respond to changes in revenues and a shortfall from expected revenue levels could have a material adverse effect on our net income.

Airline bankruptcies could adversely affect the industry.

In recent years, several air carriers have sought to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, including some of our competitors such as Avianca and Delta. Successful completion of such reorganizations could present us with competitors with significantly lower operating costs derived from labor, supply and financing contracts renegotiated under the protection of the Bankruptcy Code. For example, Avianca emerged from bankruptcy with a significantly improved financial condition. In addition, air carriers involved in reorganizations have historically undertaken substantial fare discounting in order to maintain cash flows and to enhance continued customer loyalty. Such fare discounting could further lower yields for all carriers, including us. Further, the market value of aircraft would likely be negatively impacted if a number of air carriers seek to reduce capacity by eliminating aircraft from their fleets.

Our business may be adversely affected by downturns in the airline industry caused by terrorist attacks, war or outbreak of disease, which may alter travel behavior or increase costs.

Demand for air transportation may be adversely affected by terrorist attacks, war or political and social instability, epidemics, natural disasters and other events. Any of these events in the markets in which we operate could have a material impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, these types of situations could have a prolonged effect on air transportation demand and on certain cost items.

For example, the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001 had a severe adverse impact on the airline industry. Airline traffic in the United States fell dramatically after the attacks and decreased less severely throughout Latin America. Our revenues depend on the number of passengers traveling on our flights. Therefore, any future terrorist attacks or threat of attacks, whether or not involving commercial aircraft, any increase in hostilities relating to reprisals against terrorist organizations or otherwise and any related economic impact could result in decreased passenger traffic and materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, the escalation of military involvement in the Middle East and the public’s concerns about the possibility of an outbreak of disease (such as swine flu) could have a negative impact on the public’s willingness to travel by air. It is impossible to determine if and when such adverse effects will abate and whether they will decrease demand for air travel, which could materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Increases in insurance costs and/or significant reductions in coverage would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Following the 2001 terrorist attacks, premiums for insurance against aircraft damage and liability to third parties increased substantially, and insurers could reduce their coverage or increase their premiums even further in the event of additional terrorist attacks, hijackings, airline crashes or other events adversely affecting the airline industry abroad or in Latin America. In the future, certain aviation insurance could become unaffordable, unavailable or available only for reduced amounts of coverage that are insufficient to comply with the levels of insurance coverage required by aircraft lenders and lessors or applicable government regulations. While governments in other countries have agreed to indemnify airlines for liabilities that they might incur from terrorist attacks or provide low-cost insurance for terrorism risks, the Panamanian government has not indicated an intention to provide similar benefits to us. Increases in the cost of insurance may result in both higher fares and a decreased demand for air travel generally, which could materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to comply with applicable environmental regulations could adversely affect our business.

Our operations are covered by various local, national and international environmental regulations. These regulations cover, among other things, emissions to the atmosphere, disposal of solid waste and aqueous effluents, aircraft noise and other activities that result from the operation of aircraft. Future operations and financial results may vary as a result of such regulations. Compliance with these regulations and new or existing regulations that may be applicable to us in the future could increase our cost base and adversely affect our operations and financial results.

Risks Relating to Panama and our Region

We are highly dependent on conditions in Panama.

A substantial portion of our assets are located in the Republic of Panama, a significant proportion of our customers are Panamanian, and substantially all of Copa’s flights operate through our hub at Tocumen International Airport. As a result, we depend on economic and political conditions prevailing from time to time in Panama. Panama’s economic conditions in turn highly depend on the continued profitability and economic impact of the Panama Canal. Control of the Panama Canal and many other assets were transferred from the United States to Panama in 1999 after nearly a century of U.S. control. Political events in Panama may significantly affect our operations. The Panamanian government is democratically elected and presidential elections were successfully held on May 3, 2009. Although the Panamanian political climate is currently stable, we cannot assure you that current conditions will continue under the new administration. Although the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean fared comparatively well at the beginning of the global financial crisis, as of late 2008, and continuing into 2009, many of the countries we serve, including Panama, are experiencing either economic slowdowns or recessions, which may translate into a weakening of demand and an adverse effect on our business in the future. If the Panamanian economy experiences a sustained recession, or if Panama experiences significant political disruptions, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and negatively affected.

We have paid low taxes in the past, and any increase in the taxes we or our shareholders pay in Panama or the other countries where we do business would adversely affect the value of our Class A shares.

We cannot assure you that we will not be subject to additional taxes in the future or that current taxes will not be increased. Our provision for income taxes was $12.3 million, $17.1 million and $17.5 million in the years ended December 31, 2006, 2007 and 2008, which represented an effective income tax rate of 8.4%, 9.6% and 12.8% for the respective periods. We are subject to local tax regulations in each of the jurisdictions where we operate, the great majority of which are related to the taxation of income. In some of the countries to which we fly, we do not pay any income taxes, because we do not generate income under the laws of those countries either because they do not have income tax or because of treaties or other arrangements those countries have with Panama. In the remaining countries, we pay income tax at a rate ranging from 25% to 34% of income. Different countries calculate income in different ways, but they are typically derived from sales in the applicable country multiplied by our net margin or by a presumed net margin set by the relevant tax legislation. The determination of our taxable income in certain countries is based on a combination of revenues sourced to each particular country and the allocation of expenses of our operations to that particular country. The methodology for multinational transportation company sourcing of revenue and expense is not always specifically prescribed in the relevant tax regulations, and therefore is subject to interpretation by both us and the respective taxing authorities. Additionally, in some countries, the applicability of certain regulations governing non-income taxes and the determination of our filing status are also subject to interpretation. We cannot estimate the amount, if any, of potential tax liabilities that might result if the allocations, interpretations and filing positions used by us in our tax returns were challenged by the taxing authorities of one or more countries. The low rate at which we pay income tax has been critical to our profitability in recent years and if it were to increase, our financial performance and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected. Due to the competitive revenue environment, many increases in fees and taxes have been absorbed by the airline industry rather than being passed on to the passenger. Any such increases in our fees and taxes may reduce demand for air travel and thus our revenues.

We have elected to calculate our Panamanian income tax with the alternative gross tax election. Under this method, based on Article 121 of the Panamanian Fiscal Code, income for international transportation companies is calculated based on a territoriality method that determines gross revenues earned in Panama by applying the percentage of miles flown within the Panamanian territory against total revenues. Under this method, loss carry-forwards cannot be applied to offset tax liability. If the Panamanian tax authorities do not agree with our methods of allocating revenues, we may be subject to additional tax liability. Airlines in Panama are currently not subject to any taxes relating specifically to the airline industry other than the 4% tax collected from passengers on tickets sold in Panama for the benefit of the Panamanian Tourism Bureau.

Any future change in the Panamanian tax law increasing the taxes payable by us could have materially adverse effects on our business, financial condition and result of operations.

Political unrest and instability in Colombia may adversely affect our business and the market price of our Class A shares.

We completed our acquisition of AeroRepública in the second quarter of 2005. Most of AeroRepública’s scheduled operations are conducted within Colombia. As a result, AeroRepública’s results of operations are highly sensitive to macroeconomic and political conditions prevailing in Colombia, which have been highly volatile and unstable and may continue to be so for the foreseeable future. In addition, terrorism and violence have plagued Colombia in the past. Continuing guerrilla activity could cause political unrest and instability in Colombia, which could adversely affect AeroRepública’s financial condition and results of operations. The threat of terrorist attacks could impose additional costs on us, including enhanced security to protect our aircraft, facilities and personnel against possible attacks as well as increased insurance premiums. As a result, we may encounter significant unanticipated problems at AeroRepública which could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Relating to Our Class A Shares

The value of our Class A shares may be adversely affected by ownership restrictions on our capital stock and the power of our Board of Directors to take remedial actions to preserve our operating license and international route rights by requiring sales of certain outstanding shares or issuing new stock.

Pursuant to the Panamanian Aviation Act, as amended and interpreted to date, and certain of the bilateral treaties affording us the right to fly to other countries, we are required to be “substantially owned” and “effectively controlled” by Panamanian nationals. Our failure to comply with such requirements could result in the loss of our Panamanian operating license and/or our right to fly to certain important countries. Our Articles of Incorporation (Pacto Social) give special powers to our independent directors to take certain significant actions to attempt to ensure that the amount of shares held in us by non-Panamanian nationals does not reach a level which could jeopardize our compliance with Panamanian and bilateral ownership and control requirements. If our independent directors determine it is reasonably likely that we will be in violation of these ownership and control requirements and our Class B shares represent less than 10% of our total outstanding capital stock (excluding newly issued shares sold with the approval of our independent directors committee), our independent directors will have the power to issue additional Class B shares or Class C shares with special voting rights solely to Panamanian nationals. See “10B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Description of Capital Stock.”

If any of these remedial actions are taken, the trading price of the Class A shares may be materially and adversely affected. An issuance of Class C shares could have the effect of discouraging certain changes of control of Copa Holdings or may reduce any voting power that the Class A shares enjoy prior to the Class C share issuance. There can be no assurance that we would be able to complete an issuance of Class B shares to Panamanian nationals. We cannot assure you that restrictions on ownership by non-Panamanian nationals will not impede the development of an active public trading market for the Class A shares, adversely affect the market price of the Class A shares or materially limit our ability to raise capital in markets outside of Panama in the future.

Our controlling shareholder has the ability to direct our business and affairs, and its interests could conflict with yours.

All of our Class B shares, representing approximately 29.2% of the economic interest in Copa Holdings and all of the voting power of our capital stock, are owned by CIASA. CIASA is in turn controlled by a group of Panamanian investors. In order to comply with the Panamanian Aviation Act, as amended and interpreted to date, we have amended our organizational documents to modify our share capital so that CIASA will continue to exercise voting control of Copa Holdings. CIASA will not be able to transfer its voting control unless control of our company will remain with Panamanian nationals. CIASA will maintain voting control of the company so long as CIASA continues to own a majority of our Class B shares and the Class B shares continue to represent more than 10% of our total share capital (excluding newly issued shares sold with the approval of our independent directors committee). Even after CIASA ceases to own the majority of the voting power of our capital stock, CIASA may continue to control our Board of Directors indirectly through its control of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. As the controlling shareholder, CIASA may direct us to take actions that could be contrary to your interests and under certain circumstances CIASA will be able to prevent other shareholders, including you, from blocking these actions. Also, CIASA may prevent change of control transactions that might otherwise provide you with an opportunity to dispose of or realize a premium on your investment in our Class A shares.

The Class A shares will only be permitted to vote in very limited circumstances and may never have full voting rights.

The holders of Class A shares have no right to vote at our shareholders’ meetings except with respect to corporate transformations of Copa Holdings, mergers, consolidations or spin-offs of Copa Holdings, changes of corporate purpose, voluntary delistings of the Class A shares from the NYSE, the approval of nominations of our independent directors and amendments to the foregoing provisions that adversely affect the rights and privileges of any Class A shares. The holders of Class B shares have the power, subject to our supplemental agreement with Continental, to elect the Board of Directors and to determine the outcome of all other matters to be decided by a vote of shareholders. Class A shares will not have full voting rights unless the Class B shares represent less than 10% of our total capital stock (excluding newly issued shares sold with the approval of our independent directors committee). See “Item 10B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Description of Capital Stock.” We cannot assure you that the Class A shares will ever carry full voting rights.

Substantial future sales of our Class A shares by CIASA could cause the price of the Class A shares to decrease.

CIASA owns all of our Class B shares, and those Class B shares will be converted into Class A shares if they are sold to non-Panamanian investors. In connection with our initial public offering in December 2005, Continental and CIASA reduced their ownership of our total capital stock from 49% to approximately 27.3% and from 51% to approximately 29.2%, respectively. In a follow-on offering in June 2006, Continental further reduced its ownership of our total capital stock from 27.3% to 10.0%. In May 2008, we, and CIASA, released Continental from its standstill obligations and they sold down their remaining shares in the public market. CIASA holds registration rights with respect to a significant portion of its shares pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with our initial public offering. The market price of our Class A shares could drop significantly if CIASA further reduces its investment in us, other significant holders of our shares sell a significant number of shares or if the market perceives CIASA or other significant holders intend to sell them.

Holders of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive rights, and as a result you may experience substantial dilution upon future issuances of stock by us.

Under Panamanian law and our organizational documents, holders of our Class A shares are not entitled to any preemptive rights with respect to future issuances of capital stock by us. Therefore, unlike companies organized under the laws of many other Latin American jurisdictions, we will be free to issue new shares of stock to other parties without first offering them to our existing shareholders. In the future we may sell Class A or other shares to persons other than our existing shareholders at a lower price than the shares already sold, and as a result you may experience substantial dilution of your interest in us.

You may not be able to sell our Class A shares at the price or at the time you desire because an active or liquid market for the Class A shares may not continue.

Our Class A shares are listed on the NYSE. During the three months ended December 31, 2008, the average daily trading volume for our Class A shares as reported by the NYSE was approximately 648,319 shares. We cannot predict whether an active liquid public trading market for our Class A shares will be sustained. Active, liquid trading markets generally result in lower price volatility and more efficient execution of buy and sell orders for our investors. The liquidity of a securities market is often affected by the volume of shares publicly held by unrelated parties.

Our Board of Directors may, in its discretion, amend or repeal our dividend policy. You may not receive the level of dividends provided for in the dividend policy or any dividends at all.

Our Board of Directors has adopted a dividend policy that provides for the payment of dividends to shareholders equal to approximately 10% of our annual consolidated net income. Our Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion and for any reason, amend or repeal this dividend policy. Our Board of Directors may decrease the level of dividends provided for in this dividend policy or entirely discontinue the payment of dividends. Future dividends with respect to shares of our common stock, if any, will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions, business opportunities, provisions of applicable law and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant. See “Item 8A. Consolidated Financial Statements and Other Financial Information—Dividend Policy.”

To the extent we pay dividends to our shareholders, we will have less capital available to meet our future liquidity needs.

Our Board of Directors has adopted a dividend policy that provides for the payment of dividends to shareholders equal to approximately 10% of our annual consolidated net income. The aviation industry has cyclical characteristics, and many international airlines are currently experiencing difficulties meeting their liquidity needs. Also, our business strategy contemplates substantial growth over the next several years, and we expect such growth will require a great deal of liquidity. To the extent that we pay dividends in accordance with our dividend policy, the money that we distribute to shareholders will not be available to us to fund future growth and meet our other liquidity needs.

Our Articles of Incorporation impose ownership and control restrictions on our company which ensure that Panamanian nationals will continue to control us and that these restrictions operate to prevent any change of control or some transfers of ownership in order to comply with the Aviation Act and other bilateral restrictions.

Under the Panamanian Aviation Act, as amended and interpreted to date, Panamanian nationals must exercise “effective control” over the operations of the airline and must maintain “substantial ownership.” These phrases are not defined in the Aviation Act itself and it is unclear how a Panamanian court would interpret them. The share ownership requirements and transfer restrictions contained in our Articles of Incorporation, as well as the dual-class structure of our voting capital stock are designed to ensure compliance with these ownership and control restrictions. See “Item 10B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Description of Capital Stock.” These provisions of our Articles of Incorporation may prevent change of control transactions that might otherwise provide you with an opportunity to realize a premium on your investment in our Class A shares. They also ensure that Panamanians will continue to control all the decisions of our company for the foreseeable future.

The protections afforded to minority shareholders in Panama are different from and more limited than those in the United States and may be more difficult to enforce.

Under Panamanian law, the protections afforded to minority shareholders are different from, and much more limited than, those in the United States and some other Latin American countries. For example, the legal framework with respect to shareholder disputes is less developed under Panamanian law than under U.S. law and there are different procedural requirements for bringing shareholder lawsuits, including shareholder derivative suits. As a result, it may be more difficult for our minority shareholders to enforce their rights against us or our directors or controlling shareholder than it would be for shareholders of a U.S. company. In addition, Panamanian law does not afford minority shareholders as many protections for investors through corporate governance mechanisms as in the United States and provides no mandatory tender offer or similar protective mechanisms for minority shareholders in the event of a change in control. While our Articles of Incorporation provide limited rights to holders of our Class A shares to sell their shares at the same price as CIASA in the event that a sale of Class B shares by CIASA results in the purchaser having the right to elect a majority of our board, there are other change of control transactions in which holders of our Class A shares would not have the right to participate, including the sale of interests by a party that had previously acquired Class B shares from CIASA, the sale of interests by another party in conjunction with a sale by CIASA, the sale by CIASA of control to more than one party, or the sale of controlling interests in CIASA itself.

Developments in Latin American countries and other emerging market countries may cause the market price of our Class A shares to decrease.

The market value of securities issued by Panamanian companies may be affected to varying degrees by economic and market conditions in other countries, including other Latin American and emerging market countries. Although economic conditions in emerging market countries outside Latin America may differ significantly from economic conditions in Panama and Colombia or elsewhere in Latin America, investors’ reactions to developments in these other countries may have an adverse effect on the market value of securities of Panamanian issuers or issuers with significant operations in Latin America. As a result of economic problems in various emerging market countries in the past (such as the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the Russian financial crisis of 1998 and the Argentine financial crisis in 2001), investors have viewed investments in emerging markets with heightened caution. Crises in other emerging market countries may hamper investor enthusiasm for securities of Panamanian issuers, including our shares, which could adversely affect the market price of our Class A shares.

Item 4. Information on the Company

A. History and Development of the Company

General

Copa was established in 1947 by a group of Panamanian investors and Pan American World Airways, which provided technical and economic assistance as well as capital. Initially, Copa served three domestic destinations in Panama with a fleet of three Douglas C-47 aircraft. In the 1960s, Copa began its international service with three weekly flights to cities in Costa Rica, Jamaica and Colombia using a small fleet of Avro 748s and Electra 188s. In 1971, Pan American World Airways sold its stake in Copa to a group of Panamanian investors who retained control of the airline until 1986. During the 1980s, Copa suspended its domestic service to focus on international flights.

In 1986, CIASA purchased 99% of Copa, which was controlled by the group of Panamanian shareholders who currently control CIASA. From 1992 until 1998, Copa was a part of a commercial alliance with Grupo TACA’s network of Central American airline carriers. In 1997, together with Grupo TACA, Copa entered into a strategic alliance with American Airlines. After a year our alliance with American Airlines was terminated by mutual consent.

On May 6, 1998, Copa Holdings, the holding company for Copa and related companies was incorporated as a sociedad anónima under the laws of Panama to facilitate the sale by CIASA of a 49% stake in Copa Holdings to Continental. In connection with Continental’s investment, we entered into an extensive alliance agreement with Continental providing for code-sharing, joint marketing, technical exchanges and other cooperative initiatives between the airlines. At the time of our initial public offering in December 2005, Continental reduced its ownership of our total capital stock from 49% to approximately 27.3%. In a follow-on offering in June 2006, Continental further reduced its ownership of our total capital stock from 27.3% to 10.0%. In May 2008, Continental sold its remaining shares in the public market.

Since 1998, we have grown and modernized our fleet while improving customer service and reliability. Copa has expanded its fleet from 13 aircraft to 42 aircraft. In 1999, we received our first Boeing 737-700s, in 2003 we received our first Boeing 737-800s, and in 2005 we received our first Embraer 190. In the first quarter of 2005, we completed our fleet renovation program and discontinued use of our last Boeing 737-200s. During the second quarter of 2005, we purchased AeroRepública, the second-largest domestic air carrier in Colombia in terms of number of passengers carried each year since 2005. During this same period, we have expanded from 24 destinations in 18 countries to 45 destinations in 24 countries. We plan to continue our expansion, which includes increasing our fleet, over the next several years.

Our principal executive offices are located at Boulevard Costa del Este, Avenida Principal y Avenida de la Rotonda, Urbanización Costa del Este, Complejo Business Park, Torre Norte, Parque Lefevre, Panama City, Panama and our telephone number is +507 304-2677. The website of Copa is www.copaair.com. AeroRepública maintains a website at www.aerorepublica.com.co. Information contained on, or accessible through, these websites is not incorporated by reference herein and shall not be considered part of this annual report. Our agent for service in the United States is Puglisi & Associates, 850 Library Avenue, Suite 204, Newark, Delaware 19715, and its telephone number is (302) 738-6680.

Capital Expenditures

During 2008, our capital expenditures were $215.9 million, which consisted primarily of expenditures related to our purchase of four Embraer 190 aircraft and one Boeing 737-800 aircraft, as well as to expenditures related to advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts. During 2007, our capital expenditures were $366.1 million, which consisted primarily of expenditures related to our purchase of nine Embraer 190 aircraft and two Boeing 737-800 aircraft, as well as to expenditures related to advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts. During 2006, our capital expenditures were $252.0 million, which consisted primarily of expenditures related to our purchase of five Embraer 190 aircraft and two Boeing 737-700 aircraft, as well as to expenditures related to advance payments on aircraft purchase contracts.

B. Business Overview

We are a leading Latin American provider of airline passenger and cargo service through our two principal operating subsidiaries, Copa and AeroRepública. Copa operates from its strategically located position in the Republic of Panama, and AeroRepública provides service primarily within Colombia complemented by international flights from various cities in Colombia to Panama City and Caracas. We currently operate a fleet of 55 aircraft, 27 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft, 24 Embraer 190 aircraft and 4 MD-80 aircraft. We currently have firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, for 15 Boeing 737-Next Generation and two Embraer 190s, and purchase rights and options for up three additional Boeing 737-Next Generation and 11 additional Embraer 190s.

Copa currently offers approximately 152 daily scheduled flights among 45 destinations in 24 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean from its Panama City hub. Copa provides passengers with access to flights to more than 120 other destinations through codeshare arrangements with Continental pursuant to which each airline places its name and flight designation code on the other’s flights. Through its Panama City hub, Copa is able to consolidate passenger traffic from multiple points to serve each destination effectively.

Copa operates a modern fleet of 27 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft and 15 Embraer 190 aircraft with an average age of approximately 4.2 years as of December 31, 2008. To meet its growing capacity requirements, Copa has firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, to accept delivery of 15 additional aircraft through 2012 and has purchase rights and options that, if exercised, would allow it to accept delivery of up to nine additional aircraft through 2012. Copa’s firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, are for 15 additional Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft, and its purchase rights and options are for up to three Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft and up to six Embraer 190s.

Copa started its strategic alliance with Continental in 1998. Since then, it has conducted joint marketing and code-sharing arrangements, and participated in the award-winning OnePass frequent flyer loyalty program globally and on a co-branded basis in Latin America. We believe that Copa’s co-branding and joint marketing activities with Continental have enhanced its brand in Latin America, and that the relationship with Continental has afforded it cost-related benefits, such as improving purchasing power in negotiations with aircraft vendors and insurers. Copa’s alliance and related services agreements with Continental are in effect until 2015.

In 2007, Copa joined the SkyTeam global alliance (SkyTeam) as an Associate Member, in part due to the support and sponsorship of Continental. The SkyTeam network includes carriers such as Delta Air Lines, Northwest, Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, KLM, Korean Air, AeroFlot, CSA Czech and China Southern. As an Associate Member of SkyTeam, passengers flying Copa receive the same alliance benefits on Copa flights as they receive on the flights of any other member of this alliance. Recently, Continental Airlines announced its intention to leave SkyTeam effective the fourth quarter of 2009. Due to the long-standing alliance relationship with Continental, and in order to ensure Copa remains fully aligned with Continental on a number of important joint initiatives, Copa will also be leaving SkyTeam.

During the second quarter of 2005, we purchased AeroRepública, the second-largest domestic carrier in Colombia in terms of number of passengers carried in 2005, which at the time provided point-to-point service among 11 cities in Colombia. AeroRepública currently operates a fleet of nine Embraer 190 and four MD-80s. As part of its fleet modernization and expansion plan, AeroRepública has firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, to accept delivery of two Embraer 190 aircraft through the end of 2009 and options to purchase up to five additional Embraer 190 aircraft through 2013.

Since January 2001, we have grown significantly and have established a track record of consistent profitability. Our total operating revenues have increased from $290.4 million in 2001 to $1.3 billion in 2008, while our operating margins have also increased from 8.6% to 17.4% over the same period.

Our Strengths

We believe our primary business strengths that have allowed us to compete successfully in the airline industry include the following:

•

Our “Hub of the Americas” airport is strategically located. We believe that Copa’s base of operations at the geographically central location of Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Panama provides convenient connections to our principal markets in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, enabling us to consolidate traffic to serve several destinations that do not generate enough demand to justify point-to-point service. Flights from Panama operate with few service disruptions due to weather, contributing to high completion factors and on-time performance. Tocumen International Airport’s sea-level altitude allows our aircraft to operate without performance restrictions that they would be subject to at higher-altitude airports. We believe that Copa’s hub in Panama allows us to benefit from Panama City’s status as a center for financial services, shipping and commerce and from Panama’s stable, dollar-based economy, free-trade zone and growing tourism.

•

We focus on keeping our operating costs low. In recent years, our low operating costs and efficiency have contributed significantly to our profitability. Our operating cost per available seat mile, excluding costs for fuel and fleet impairment charges, was 7.01 cents in 2004, 6.53 cents in 2005, 6.81 cents in 2006, 7.13 cents in 2007 and 7.46 in 2008. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” for a reconciliation of our operating cost per available seat mile when excluding costs for fuel and fleet impairment charges to our operating cost per available seat mile. We believe that our cost per available seat mile reflects our modern fleet, efficient operations and the competitive cost of labor in Panama.

•

Copa operates a modern fleet. Copa’s fleet consists of modern Boeing 737-Next Generation and Embraer 190 aircraft equipped with winglets and other modern cost-saving and safety features. Over the next years, Copa intends to enhance its modern fleet through the addition of at least 13 additional Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft. We believe that Copa’s modern fleet contributes to its on-time performance and high completion factor (percentage of scheduled flights not cancelled). We expect our Boeing 737-700s, 737-800s and Embraer 190s to continue offering substantial operational cost advantages in terms of fuel efficiency and maintenance costs. AeroRepública is currently implementing a fleet modernization and expansion plan. Since December 2007, AeroRepública has taken delivery of nine Embraer 190 aircraft and as of December 31, 2008 had firm lease commitments on two additional Embraer 190s and purchase options and purchase rights for an additional five Embraer 190 aircraft.

•

We believe Copa has a strong brand and a reputation for quality service. We believe that the Copa brand is associated with value to passengers, providing world-class service and competitive pricing. For the year ended December 31, 2008, Copa Airline’s statistic for on-time performance was 87.5%, completion factor was 99.6% and baggage handling was 2.1 mishandled bags per 1000 passengers. Our goal is to apply our expertise in these areas to improve AeroRepública’s service statistics to comparable levels. Our focus on customer service has helped to build passenger loyalty. We believe that our brand has also been enhanced through our relationship with Continental, including our joint marketing of the OnePass loyalty program in Latin America, the similarity of our aircraft livery and aircraft interiors and our participation in Continental’s President’s Club lounge program.

•

Our management fosters a culture of teamwork and continuous improvement. Our management team has been successful at creating a culture based on teamwork and focused on continuous improvement. Each of our employees at Copa has individual objectives based on corporate goals that serve as a basis for measuring performance. When corporate operational and financial targets are met, employees at Copa are eligible to receive bonuses according to our profit sharing program. See “Item 6D. Employees.” We also recognize outstanding performance of individual employees through company-wide recognition, one-time awards, special events and, in the case of our senior management, grants of restricted stock and stock options. Copa’s goal-oriented culture and incentive programs have contributed to a motivated work force that is focused on satisfying customers, achieving efficiencies and growing profitability. We seek to create a similar culture at AeroRepública.

Our Strategy

Our goal is to continue to grow profitably and enhance our position as a leader in Latin American aviation by providing a combination of superior customer service, convenient schedules and competitive fares, while maintaining competitive costs. The key elements of our business strategy include the following:

•

Expand our network by increasing frequencies and adding new destinations. We believe that demand for air travel in Latin America is likely to expand in the next decade, and we intend to use our increasing fleet capacity to meet this growing demand. We intend to focus on expanding our operations by increasing flight frequencies on our most profitable routes and initiating service to new destinations. Copa’s Panama City hub allows us to consolidate traffic and provide service to certain underserved markets, particularly in Central America and the Caribbean, and we intend to focus on providing new service to regional destinations that we believe best enhance the overall connectivity and profitability of our network.

•

Continue to focus on keeping our costs low. We seek to reduce our cost per available seat mile without sacrificing services valued by our customers as we execute our growth plans. Our goal is to maintain a modern fleet and to make effective use of our resources through efficient aircraft utilization and employee productivity. We intend to reduce our distribution costs by increasing direct sales, including internet and call center sales, as well as improving efficiency through technology and automated processes.

•

Emphasize superior service and value to our customers. We intend to continue to focus on satisfying our customers and earning their loyalty by providing a combination of superior service and competitive fares. We believe that continuing our operational success in keeping flights on time, reducing mishandled luggage and offering convenient schedules to attractive destinations will be essential to achieving this goal. We intend to continue to incentivize our employees to improve or maintain operating and service metrics relating to our customers’ satisfaction by continuing our profit sharing plan and employee recognition programs and to reward customer loyalty with the popular OnePass frequent flyer program, upgrades and access to President’s Club lounges.

•

Capitalize on opportunities at AeroRepública. We are seeking to enhance AeroRepública’s profitability through a variety of initiatives, including modernizing its fleet, integrating its route network with Copa’s and improving overall efficiency.

AeroRepública

On April 22, 2005, we acquired an initial 85.6% equity ownership interest in AeroRepública which was followed by subsequent acquisitions increasing our total ownership interest in AeroRepública to 99.9% as of December 31, 2008. According to the Colombian Civil Aviation Administration, Unidad Especial Administrative de Aeronáutica Civil, AeroRepública is the second largest passenger air carrier in Colombia, with a market share of approximately 25% of the domestic traffic on principal routes in 2008 and approximately 1,311 employees.

Our goal is to achieve growth at AeroRepública, particularly in the business travelers segment. We believe that Copa’s operational coordination with AeroRepública may create additional passenger traffic in our existing route network by providing Colombian passengers more convenient access to the international destinations served through our Panama hub.

We have centralized certain administrative functions common to Copa and AeroRepública. We have also implemented e-ticketing at AeroRepública, and since the first quarter of 2006, AeroRepública participates in the OnePass frequent flyer loyalty program. Looking ahead, we seek to complete our fleet renovation program.

Industry

In Latin America, the scheduled passenger service market consists of three principal groups of travelers: strictly leisure, business and travelers visiting friends and family. Leisure passengers and passengers visiting friends and family typically place a higher emphasis on lower fares, whereas business passengers typically place a higher emphasis on flight frequency, on-time performance, breadth of network and service enhancements, including loyalty programs and airport lounges.

According to data from the International Air Transport Association, or IATA, Latin America comprised approximately 7.5% of worldwide passengers flown in 2007, or 105 million passengers.

The Central American aviation market is dominated by international traffic. According to data from IATA, international traffic represented more than 78% of passengers carried and 89% of passenger miles flown in Central America in 2007. International passenger traffic is concentrated between North America and Central America. This segment represented 89% of international passengers flown in Central America in 2007, compared to 4% for passengers flown between Central America and South America and 7% for passengers flown between Central American countries. Total passengers flown on international flights in Central America grew by 5.7% in 2007, and load factors on international flights to and from Central America were 72% on average.

Domestic traffic and traffic within Central American countries represented approximately 27% of passengers carried and 13% of passenger miles flown in 2007. Average load factors on domestic flights and flights within Central America were 67% in 2007. The chart below details passenger traffic in 2007.

		2007 IATA Traffic Results(1)
		Passengers								Passenger
		Carried								Miles
		(Thousands)				Change (%)				(Millions)				Change (%)				ASMs (Million)				Change (%)				Load Factor
International Scheduled Service
North America — Central America			33,275				4.9	%			48,551				6.3	%			64,520				3.6	%			75.3	%
North America — South America			10,320				8.4	%			30,642				10.5	%			39,294				8.5	%			78.0	%
Central America — South America			1,628				8.6	%			2,707				17.1	%			3,738				14.6	%			72.4	%
Within Central America			2,538				14.5	%			1,319				12.5	%			1,949				4.5	%			67.7	%
Within South America			10,105				25.4	%			9,852				28.7	%			13,302				24.9	%			74.1	%
Domestic Scheduled Service
Central America			10,441				-5.1	%			6,468				-3.5	%			9,895				-5.5	%			65.4	%
South America			37,062				7.3	%			19,555				13.4	%			27,566				15.2	%			70.9	%

Panama serves as a hub for connecting passenger traffic between major markets in North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean. Accordingly, passenger traffic to and from Panama is significantly influenced by economic growth in surrounding regions. Major passenger traffic markets in North, South and Central America experienced growth in their GDP in 2007 and 2008 on both an absolute and per capita basis. In 2008, real GDP increased by 8.3% in Panama and by 4.0% in Colombia, according to the International Monetary Fund’s estimates.

		GDP								GDP per Capita
		2008 GDP								2008 GDP per Capita
		Current Prices				2008 Real GDP				Current Prices
		(US$bn)				(% Growth)				(US$)
Brazil			1,665				5.2	%			8,676
Argentina			339				6.5	%			8,522
Chile			181				4.5	%			10,814
Mexico			1,143				2.1	%			10,747
Colombia			250				4.0	%			5,174
Panama			23				8.3	%			6,883
USA			14,334				1.6	%			47,025

Panama has benefited from a stable economy with moderate inflation and steady GDP growth. According to International Monetary Fund estimates, from 1998 to 2008 Panama’s real GDP grew at an average annual rate of 5.8% while inflation averaged 2.2% per year. The service sector represents approximately 75% of total real GDP in Panama, a higher percentage of GDP than the service sector represents in most other Latin American countries. The World Bank currently estimates Panama’s population to be approximately 3.4 million in 2008, with the majority of the population concentrated in Panama City, where our hub at Tocumen International Airport is located. We believe the combination of a stable, service-oriented economy and steady population growth has helped drive our domestic origin and destination passenger traffic.

Domestic travel within Panama primarily consists of individuals visiting families as well as domestic and foreign tourist visiting the countryside. Most of this travel is done via ground transportation, and its main flow is to and from Panama City, where most of the economic activity and population is concentrated. Demand for domestic air travel is growing and relates primarily to leisure travel from foreign and local tourist. The market is served primarily by two local airlines, Air Panama and Aeroperlas, which operate turbo prop aircraft generally with less than 50 seats. These airlines offer limited international service and operate in the domestic terminal of Panama City, which is located 30 minutes by car from Tocumen International Airport.

Colombia is the third largest country in Latin America in terms of population, with a population of approximately 48.35 million in 2008 according to the International Monetary Fund, and has a land area of approximately 440,000 square miles. Colombia’s GDP was approximately $250 billion in 2008, and per capita income was approximately $5.2 thousand (current prices) according to the International Monetary Fund. Colombia’s geography is marked by the Andean mountains and an inadequate road and rail infrastructure, making air travel a convenient and attractive transportation alternative. Colombia shares a border with Panama, and for historic, cultural and business reasons it represents a significant market for many Panamanian businesses.

Route Network and Schedules

Copa

As of December 31, 2008, Copa provided regularly scheduled flights to 45 cities in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Substantially all of our Copa flights operate through our hub in Panama which allows us to transport passengers and cargo among a large number of destinations with service that is more frequent than if each route were served directly.

We believe our hub-and-spoke model is the most efficient way for us to operate our business since most of the origination/destination city pairs we serve do not generate sufficient traffic to justify a point-to-point service. Also, since we serve many countries, it would be very difficult to obtain the bilateral route rights necessary to operate a competitive point-to-point system.

We schedule four banks of flights during the day, with flights timed to arrive at the hub at approximately the same time and to depart a short time later.

As a part of our strategic relationship with Continental, Copa provides flights through code-sharing arrangements to over 120 other destinations. Copa also provides flights through its tactical and regional code-sharing arrangements with AeroRepública, KLM, Gol, Aeroméxico and Gulfstream International Airlines.

In 2007, Copa joined SkyTeam as an Associate Member, in part due to the support and sponsorship of Continental. The SkyTeam network includes carriers such as Delta Air Lines, Northwest, Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, KLM, Korean Air, AeroFlot, CSA Czech and China Southern. As an Associate Member of SkyTeam, passengers flying on Copa receive the same alliance benefits on Copa flights as they receive on the flights of any other member of this alliance. Recently, Continental Airlines announced its intention to leave SkyTeam effective the fourth quarter of 2009. Due to the long-standing alliance relationship with Continental, and in order to ensure Copa remains fully aligned with Continental on a number of important joint initiatives, Copa will also be leaving SkyTeam.

In addition to increasing the frequencies to destinations we already serve, Copa’s business strategy is also focused on adding new destinations across Latin America, the Caribbean and North America in order to increase the attractiveness of our Hub of the Americas at Tocumen International Airport hub for intra-American traffic. We currently plan to introduce new destinations and to increase frequencies to many of the destinations that Copa currently serves. Our Embraer 190 aircraft, together with the Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft, allows us to improve our service by increasing frequencies and service to new destinations with the right-sized aircraft.

Our plans to introduce new destinations and increase frequencies depend on the allocation of route rights, a process over which we do not have direct influence. Route rights are allocated through negotiations between the government of Panama and the governments of countries to which we intend to increase flights. If we are unable to obtain route rights, we will exercise the flexibility within our route network to re-allocate capacity as appropriate.

We do not currently provide any domestic service in the Republic of Panama, choosing instead to focus entirely on international traffic. The following table shows our revenue generated in each of our major operating regions.

Revenue by Region

		Year Ended December 31,
Region		2006				2007				2008
North America(1)			19.4	%			18.9	%			14.4	%
South America			41.5	%			46.1	%			55.4	%
Central America(2)			29.0	%			26.2	%			23.7	%
Caribbean(3)			10.1	%			8.8	%			6.6	%

AeroRepública

AeroRepública currently provides scheduled service to the following cities in Colombia, Panama and Venezuela:

		Date Service
Destinations Served		Commenced
Barranquilla		Jun 1995
Bogotá		Jun 1993
Bucaramanga		May 1995
Cali		Jun 1993
Caracas, Venezuela		May 2008
Cartagena		Jun 1993
Cúcuta		Nov 2005
Leticia		Nov 1993
Medellín		Oct 1994
Montería		Jul 1994
Panama City, Panama		Dec 2005
Pereira		Mar 2003
San Andrés		Jun 1993
Santa Marta		Jun 1993

In addition to the destinations described above, AeroRepública has periodically operated charter flights to Margarita Island, Venezuela; Havana, Cuba; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Aruba.

Since its acquisition, AeroRepública has been granted the authorization to fly regular services to Panama City from Bogota, Cali, Medellín, Bucaramanga, Pereira and Cartagena, Colombia. As a result, AeroRepública has added daily flights to Panama City from Bogota, Medellin, and Cali; three frequencies per week from Cartagena, four frequencies per week from Bucaramanga and four frequencies per week to Pereira. In March 2007, AeroRepública was granted authorization to operate a second frequency from Bogotá to Panama City. AeroRepública was also granted the authorization to fly two daily frequencies from Bogotá to Caracas, Venezuela, and from Medellín to Caracas, Venezuela.

In addition to code-sharing with Copa, AeroRepública is leveraging Copa’s technology and relationships to increase international traffic with other international carriers. Colombia has open-skies agreements with the Andean Pact (Comunidad Andina) nations of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.

Airline Operations

Passenger Operations

Passenger revenue accounted for approximately $631.1 million in 2006, $756.4 million in 2007 and $973.2 million in 2008 representing 93.3%, 93.8% and 93.9% , respectively, of Copa’s total revenues, all earned from international routes. Leisure traffic, which makes up close to half of Copa’s total traffic, tends to coincide with holidays, school vacations and cultural events and peaks in July and August and again in December and January. Despite these seasonal variations, Copa’s overall traffic pattern is relatively stable due to the constant influx of business travelers. Approximately half of Copa passengers regard Panama City as their destination or origination point, and most of the remaining passengers pass through Panama City in transit to other points on our route network.

AeroRepública’s business is concentrated on passenger service and in 2008 its passenger revenue accounted for approximately 92.4% of its total revenues. The majority of AeroRepública’s customers are leisure travelers and travelers visiting friends and family, and traffic is heaviest during the vacation months of July, August and the holiday season in December.

Cargo Operations

In addition to our passenger service, we make efficient use of extra capacity in the belly of our aircraft by carrying cargo. Copa’s cargo business generated revenues of approximately $33.2 million in 2006, $34.7 million in 2007 and $41.5 million in 2008, representing 4.9%, 4.3% and 4.0%, respectively, of Copa’s operating revenues. We primarily move our cargo in the belly of our aircraft, however, we also wet-lease and charter freighter capacity when necessary to meet our cargo customers’ needs. In 2008, our cargo business consisted of approximately 84.7% in freight; 13.5% in courier; and 1.8% in mail service.

Pricing and Revenue Management

Copa

Copa has designed its fare structure to balance its load factors and yields in a way that it believes will maximize profits on its flights. Copa also maintains revenue management policies and procedures that are intended to maximize total revenues, while remaining generally competitive with those of our major competitors.

Copa charges slightly more for tickets on higher-demand routes, tickets purchased on short notice and other itineraries suggesting a passenger would be willing to pay a premium. This represents strong value to Copa’s business customers, who can count on competitive rates when flying with Copa. The number of seats Copa offers at each fare level in each market results from a continual process of analysis and forecasting. Past booking history, seasonality, the effects of competition and current booking trends are used to forecast demand. Current fares and knowledge of upcoming events at destinations that will affect traffic volumes are included in Copa’s forecasting model to arrive at optimal seat allocations for its fares on specific routes. Copa uses a combination of approaches, taking into account yields, flight load factors and effects on load factors of continuing traffic, depending on the characteristics of the markets served, to arrive at a strategy for achieving the best possible revenue per available seat mile, balancing the average fare charged against the corresponding effect on our load factors. In 2005, Copa replaced its revenue management software with Airmax, a more sophisticated revenue management system designed by Sabre.

AeroRepública

Various improvements have been made to AeroRepública’s revenue management, pricing capabilities and systems since its acquisition in 2005. During the fourth quarter of 2007, for example, we completed the implementation of the Airmax revenue management system at AeroRepública.

Relationship with Continental Airlines

It is common practice in the commercial aviation industry for airlines to develop marketing and commercial alliances with other carriers in order to offer a more complete and seamless travel experience to passengers. These alliances typically yield certain conveniences such as code-sharing, frequent flyer reciprocity, and, where permitted, coordinated scheduling of flights as well as additional joint marketing activities.

In May 1998, Copa Airlines and Continental Airlines entered into a comprehensive alliance agreement, encompassing a broad array of activities such as Copa’s participation in Continental’s frequent flyer programs and VIP lounge; as well as agreements in other areas, such as trademarks. These agreements were initially signed for a period of ten years. In November 2005, Copa and Continental amended and restated these agreements and extended their term through the year 2015.

As a result of the Copa — Continental alliance, we have benefited from Continental’s expertise and experience over the past decade. Copa has, for example, fully adopted Continental’s OnePass frequent flyer program and rolled out a co-branded joint product in much of Latin America, enabling us to develop brand loyalty among our travelers. The co-branding of the OnePass loyalty programs has helped to leverage the brand recognition that Continental already enjoyed across Latin America and enables the two airlines to compete more effectively against regional competitors such as Grupo TACA and the oneworld alliance represented by American Airlines and LAN Airlines. We also share Continental’s Sceptre inventory management software, which allows Copa to pool spare parts with the larger airline and to rely on Continental to provide engineering support for maintenance projects. We have also been able to take advantage of Continental’s purchasing power and negotiate more competitive rates for spare parts and third-party maintenance work. In addition to the Sceptre system, we have implemented several important information technology systems, such as the “SHARES” computer reservation system in an effort to maintain commonality with Continental.

Building on the existing track-record of successful alliance accomplishments, Copa and Continental have started to involve, where appropriate, AeroRepública in aspects of the existing alliance cooperation, beginning with AeroRepública’s participation in the OnePass frequent flyer loyalty program.

The Copa — Continental alliance enjoys antitrust immunity in the United States which allows the carriers to coordinate pricing, scheduling and joint marketing initiatives.

In 2007, Copa joined SkyTeam as an Associate Member, in part due to the support and sponsorship of Continental. Recently, Continental Airlines announced its intention to leave SkyTeam effective the fourth quarter of 2009. Due to the long-standing alliance relationship with Continental, and in order to ensure Copa remains fully aligned with Continental on a number of important joint initiatives, Copa will also be leaving SkyTeam.

Sales, Marketing and Distribution

Copa

Sales and Distribution. Approximately 70% of sales during 2008 were completed through travel agents and other airlines while approximately 30% were direct sales via our city ticket offices (CTOs), call centers, airport counters or websites. Travel agents receive base commissions, not including back-end incentive payments, ranging from 0% to 6% depending on the country. The weighted average rate for these commissions during 2008 was 3.3%. In recent years, base commissions have decreased significantly in most markets as more efficient back-end incentive programs have been implemented to reward selected travel agencies that exceed their sales targets.

Travel agents obtain airline travel information and issue airline tickets through global distribution systems, or GDSs, that enable them to make reservations on flights from a large number of airlines. GDSs are also used by travel agents to make hotel and car rental reservations. Copa participates actively in all major international GDSs, including SABRE, Amadeus, Galileo and Worldspan. In return for access to these systems, Copa pays transaction fees that are generally based on the number of reservations booked through each system.

Copa has a sales and marketing network consisting of 94 domestic and international ticket offices, including airport and city ticket offices. Copa has 33 CTOs co-branded with Continental and 29 CTOs co-branded with AeroRepublica. During the year ended December 31, 2008, approximately 18% and 5% of its sales were booked through its ticket counters and call center, respectively.

The call center that operates Copa’s reservations and sales services handles calls from Panama as well as most other countries to which Copa flies. Such centralization has resulted in a significant increase in telephone sales as it efficiently allowed for improvements in service levels such as 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week service, in three different languages.

We encourage the use of direct Internet bookings by its customers because it is our most efficient distribution channel. During mid 2002, Copa signed a contract with Amadeus to use its booking engine to facilitate ticket purchases on www.copaair.com and launched the system on January 6, 2003. The cost of each booking via the website is roughly 25% the cost of a regular travel agency booking. In 2004, Copa purchased a new booking engine in order to further reduce distribution costs; 7% of its 2008 sales were made via the website. Copa’s goal is to channel more of its total sales through the website.

Advertising and Promotional Activities. Our advertising and promotional activities include the use of television, print, radio and billboards, as well as targeted public relation events in the cities where we fly. We believe that the corporate traveler is an important part of our business, and we particularly promote our service to these customers by conveying the reliability, convenience and consistency of our service and offering value-added services such as convention and conference travel arrangements, as well as our Business Rewards loyalty program for our frequent corporate travelers. We also promote package deals among the destinations where we fly through combined efforts with selected hotels and travel agencies.

AeroRepública

AeroRepública successfully implemented the OnePass frequent flyer program in March 2006. AeroRepública also implemented e-ticket in January 2006 and e-ticket interline with Copa and Amadeus during the second quarter of 2006, complementing its call center, 24 city ticket offices and 12 airport ticket offices. In February 2007, AeroRepublica was brought into Copa’s SHARES reservations and check-in platform providing significant benefits in terms of costs and functionality.

Competition

We face intense competition throughout our route network. Overall airline industry profit margins are low and industry earnings are volatile. Airlines compete in the areas of pricing, scheduling (frequency and flight times), on-time performance, frequent flyer programs and other services. Copa competes with a number of other airlines that currently serve the routes on which we operate, including Grupo TACA, American Airlines Inc., Delta Air Lines, Mexicana and Avianca. Some of our competitors, such as American Airlines, have larger customer bases and greater brand recognition in the markets we serve outside Panama, and some of our competitors have significantly greater financial and marketing resources than we have. Airlines based in other countries may also receive subsidies, tax incentives or other state aid from their respective governments, which are not provided by the Panamanian government. The commencement of, or increase in, service on the routes we serve by existing or new carriers could negatively impact our operating results. Likewise, competitors’ service on routes that we are targeting for expansion may make those expansion plans less attractive. We must constantly react to changes in prices and services offered by our competitors to remain competitive.

Traditional hub-and-spoke carriers in the United States and Europe have in recent years faced substantial and increasing competitive pressure from low-cost carriers offering discounted fares. The low-cost carriers’ operations are typically characterized by point-to-point route networks focusing on the highest demand city pairs, high aircraft utilization, single class service and fewer in-flight amenities. As evidenced by the operations of Gol in Brazil and several new low-cost carriers which have recently launched service or planning to start service in Mexico, among others, the “low-cost carrier” business model appears to be gaining acceptance in the Latin American aviation industry, and we may face new and substantial competition from low-cost carriers in the future.

The main source of competition to Copa, and our alliance with Continental, come from the multinational Grupo TACA and American Airlines, the U.S. airline with the largest Latin American route network. Colombian carrier Avianca is also a significant competitor.

Grupo TACA’s strategy has been to develop three hubs at San Jose, Costa Rica, San Salvador, El Salvador and Lima, Peru, which serve more than 39 cities in 22 countries and compete with Copa’s hub at Tocumen International Airport. Grupo TACA primarily operates a fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft and they have announced their intent to take delivery of a significant number of new Airbus and Embraer 190 aircraft between now and December 2009. We have routes to several of the Central American and Caribbean countries where Grupo TACA has established service, including Guatemala City, Havana, Managua, San Jose, San Salvador, San Pedro Sula, Santo Domingo and Tegucigalpa.

American Airlines also offers significant competition. American Airlines attracts strong brand recognition throughout the Americas and is able to attract brand loyalty through its “AAdvantage” frequent flyer program. American Airlines competes through its hubs at Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico. American Airlines was a founding member of the oneworld global marketing alliance.

LAN Airlines is another oneworld alliance member that offers service to approximately 60 destinations, primarily in Latin America. LAN Airlines is comprised of LAN Chile, LAN Peru, LAN Ecuador, LAN Argentina, LAN Cargo and LAN Express. While we do not compete directly with LAN Airlines on many of our current routes, LAN Airlines has grown rapidly over the past several years and may become a significant competitor in the future.

Copa has significant presence in destinations where the local airline is less viable and competitive, such as the Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo, Santiago de los Caballeros and Punta Cana), Ecuador (Quito and Guayaquil) and Venezuela (Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia).

Copa has also established itself as a significant player on traffic to and from Colombia, with strong market share on routes to and from Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, Medellin and San Andres. AeroRepública competes more directly with Avianca and other Colombian carriers in the Colombian domestic market. Avianca emerged from U.S. bankruptcy protection, after being purchased by Brazil’s Synergy Group. Avianca has announced its intention to transform Bogotá into a major international aviation hub which, if successful, will compete directly with our hub at Tocumen International Airport. Avianca recently commenced a fleet renovation project which includes the incorporation of the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A330 wide body aircraft, as well as Airbus A320 and A319 narrow body aircraft.

We cannot predict whether Avianca will become more competitive in the future, or if its increased operations from Bogotá will prove successful. The other Colombian carriers, Aerolineas de Antioquia, the state-owned airline Satena, Easy Fly and Aires, collectively accounted for approximately 23.2% of the domestic Colombian market in 2008. Airlines that seek to compete in the Colombian air transportation market face substantial barriers to entry, as the Colombian government requires an airline to operate at least five aircraft and comply with extensive filing and certification requirements before it becomes eligible to receive domestic route rights on certain Colombian routes between major cities. In addition, the number of air carriers offering service on any route is currently regulated by the Colombian Aviation Authority.

With respect to our cargo operations, we will continue to face competition from all of the major airfreight companies, most notably DHL, which has a cargo hub operation at Tocumen International Airport.

Aircraft

Copa

As of December 31, 2008, Copa operated a fleet consisting of 42 aircraft, including 20 Boeing 737-700 Next Generation aircraft, seven Boeing 737-800 Next Generation aircraft and 15 Embraer 190 aircraft. Copa currently has firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, for 15 additional Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft. Copa also has options for an additional six Embraer 190s and purchase rights and options for an additional three Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft.

The current composition of the Copa fleet as of December 31, 2008 is more fully described below:

														Average
														Term
														of Lease
		Number of Aircraft												Remaining				Average Age				Seating
		Total				Owned				Leased				(Years)				(Years)				Capacity
Boeing 737-700			20				14				6				2.2				6.5				124
Boeing 737-800			7				6				1				3.9				3.1				155
Embraer 190			15				15				—				—				1.6				94
Total			42				35				7				2.4				4.2				—

We expect our Copa fleet to continue to center on the Boeing 737-700 model, although we expect to continue to add Boeing 737-800s to our fleet to cover high-demand routes and Embraer 190s to serve underserved markets as well as fly additional frequencies where we believe excess demand exists. The table below describes the expected size of our Copa fleet at the end of each year set forth below, assuming delivery of all aircraft for which we currently have firm orders but not taking into account any aircraft for which we have purchase rights and options:

Aircraft Type		2009				2010				2011				2012				2013
737-700(1)			18				16				16				15				15
737-800(2)			10				13				18				20				20
Embraer 190(3)			13				13				13				13				13
Total Fleet			41				42				47				48				48

The Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft currently in our Copa fleet are fuel-efficient and suit our operations well for the following reasons:

•

They have simplified maintenance procedures.

•

They require just one type of standardized training for our crews.

•

They have one of the lowest operating costs in their class.

Our focus on profitable operations means that we periodically review our fleet composition. As a result, our fleet composition changes over time when we conclude that adding other types of aircraft will help us achieve this goal. The introduction of any new type of aircraft to our fleet is only done if, after careful consideration, we determine that such a step will improve our profitability. In line with this philosophy, after conducting a careful cost-benefit analysis, we added the Embraer 190 aircraft because its combination of smaller size and highly efficient operating characteristics made it the ideal aircraft to serve new mid-sized markets and to increase frequency to existing destinations. The Embraer 190 incorporates advanced design features, such as integrated avionics, fly-by-wire flight controls, and efficient CF34-10 engines made by General Electric. The Embraer E190 has a range of approximately 2,000 nautical miles enabling it to fly to a wide range of destinations from short-haul to certain medium-haul destinations. We have configured Copa’s Embraer aircraft with a business class section similar to the business class section we have on our Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft.

Through several special purpose vehicles, we currently have beneficial ownership of 35 of our aircraft, including 15 Embraer 190s. In addition, we lease six of our Boeing 737-700s and one of our Boeing 737-800s under long-term operating lease agreements that have an average remaining term of 2.4 years. Leasing some of our aircraft provides us with flexibility to change our fleet composition if we consider it to be in our best interests to do so. We make monthly rental payments, some of which are based on floating rates, but are not required to make termination payments at the end of the lease. Currently, we do not have purchase options in any of our lease agreements. Under our operating lease agreements, we are required in some cases to maintain maintenance reserve accounts and in other cases to make supplemental rent payments at the end of the lease that are calculated with reference to the aircrafts’ maintenance schedule. In either case, we must return the aircraft in the agreed upon condition at the end of the lease term. Title to the aircraft remains with the lessor. We are responsible for the maintenance, servicing, insurance, repair and overhaul of the aircraft during the term of the lease.

To better serve the growing number of business travelers, we introduced business class (Clase Ejecutiva) in November of 1998. Our business class service features twelve luxury seats in the Boeing 737-700s with a 38-inch pitch, upgraded meal service, special check-in desks, bonus mileage for full-fare business class passengers and access to VIP lounges. Our Boeing 737-800s are currently configured with 14 business class seats. In 2009, we plan to reconfigure our Boeing 737-800 aircraft by adding two additional business class seats and three additional economy seats, increasing the total number of seats from 155 to 160. Our Embraer 190s have 10 business class seats in a three abreast configuration and 38-inch pitch.

Each of our Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft is powered by two CFM International Model CFM 56-7B engines. Each of our Embraer 190 aircraft is powered by two CF34-10 engines made by General Electric. We currently have seven spare engines for service replacements and for periodic rotation through our fleet.

AeroRepública

AeroRepública’s operates a fleet of two leased MD-82s, two leased MD-83s, four owned Embraer 190 and five leased Embraer 190, with an average age in excess of 4.6 years as of December 31, 2008. All of AeroRepública’s fleet is configured as a single class, with the MD fleet having an average capacity of 157 seats and the Embraer 190 fleet having a capacity of 106 seats. AeroRepública has firm commitments to accept delivery of two Embraer 190 aircraft through the end of 2009 and options to purchase up to five additional Embraer 190 aircraft through 2013.

Maintenance

Copa

The maintenance performed on our Copa aircraft can be divided into two general categories: line and heavy maintenance. Line maintenance consists of routine, scheduled maintenance checks on our aircraft, including pre-flight, daily and overnight checks, “A-checks” and any diagnostics and routine repairs. Most of Copa’s line maintenance is performed by Copa’s own highly experienced technicians at our base in Panama. Some line maintenance is also carried out at stations outside Panama by Copa employees or third-party contractors. Heavy maintenance consists of more complex inspections and overhauls, including “C-checks,” and servicing of the aircraft that cannot be accomplished during an overnight visit. Maintenance checks are performed as defined by the aircraft manufacturer. These checks are based on the number of hours or calendar months flown. We have contract with certified outside maintenance providers, principally with Panama Aerospace Engineering, a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Aerospace, which is certified as an authorized repair station by the FAA and the AAC, for heavy aircraft maintenance services. Copa also has an exclusive long-term contract with GE Engines whereby they will perform maintenance on all of its CFM-56 engines. There were nine heavy maintenance events in 2008. When possible, Copa attempts to schedule heavy maintenance during its lower-demand season in April, May, October and November.

Copa employs over 200 maintenance professionals, including engineers, supervisors, technicians and mechanics, who perform maintenance in accordance with maintenance programs that are established by the manufacturer and approved and certified by international aviation authorities. Every mechanic is trained in factory procedures and goes through our own rigorous in-house training program. Every mechanic is licensed by the AAC and approximately 26 of our mechanics are also licensed by the FAA. Copa’s safety and maintenance procedures are reviewed and periodically audited by the aircraft manufacturer, the AAC, the FAA, IATA and, to a lesser extent, every foreign country to which its flies. Copa’s maintenance facility at Tocumen International Airport has been certified by the FAA as an approved repair station, and each year the FAA inspects its facilities to renew the certification. Copa’s aircraft are initially covered by warranties that have a term of four years, resulting in lower maintenance expenses during the period of coverage. All of Copa’s mechanics are trained to perform line maintenance on both the Boeing 737-Next Generation and Embraer 190s aircraft.

AeroRepública

All line maintenance for AeroRepública’s MD-80s and Embraer 190 is performed by AeroRepública’s in-house maintenance staff, while C-checks on the MD-80s are performed by FAA certified third-party aviation maintenance companies. All of AeroRepública’s maintenance and safety procedures are performed according to Boeing standards (certified by the FAA), and certified by the Aeronautica Civil of Colombia and BVQi, the institute that issues ISO (International Organization for Standardization) quality certificates. All of AeroRepública’s maintenance personnel are licensed by the Aeronautica Civil of Colombia. In December 2007, AeroRepública received its IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) compliance certification.

Safety

We place a high priority on providing safe and reliable air service. Copa has uniform safety standards and safety-related training programs that cover all of its operations. In particular, Copa periodically evaluates the skills, experience and safety records of its pilots in order to maintain strict control over the quality of its pilot crews. All of Copa’s pilots participate in training programs, some of which are sponsored by aircraft manufacturers, and all are required to undergo recurrent training two times per year. We have a full time program of Flight Data Analysis (FOQA) wherein the flight data from every Copa flight is analyzed for safety or technical anomalies. During 2007, Copa successfully completed its second IOSA.

On July 17, 2007, one of our AeroRepública Embraer 190s overran a wet runway at Santa Marta, Colombia. As a result of this incident, six people suffered minor injuries and the aircraft sustained damages that caused its permanent removal from service.

The FAA periodically audits the aviation regulatory authorities of other countries. As a result of their investigation, each country is given an International Aviation Safety Assessment, or IASA, rating. Panama is currently rated as “Category 1”, which indicates a strong level of confidence in the safety regulation of the AAC.

Airport Facilities

We believe that our hub at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport (PTY) is an excellent base of operations for the following reasons:

•

Panama’s consistently temperate climate is ideal for airport operations. For example, in recent years Tocumen was closed and unavailable for flight operations for a total of less than two hours per year on average.

•

Tocumen is the only airport in Central America with two operational runways. Also unlike some other regional airports, we are currently not constrained by a lack of available gates/parking positions at Tocumen, and there is ample room to expand.

•

From Panama’s central location, our Boeing 737-Next Generation can efficiently serve long-haul destinations in South American cities such as Santiago, Chile; Montevideo, Uruguay; Cordoba, Argentina; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and São Paulo, Brazil as well as short-haul destinations in Central and South America.

•

Travelers can generally make connections easily through Tocumen because of its manageable size and Panama’s policies accommodating in-transit passengers.

Tocumen International Airport is operated by an independent corporate entity established by the government, where stakeholders have a say in the operation and development of the airport. The law that created this entity also provided for a significant portion of revenues generated at Tocumen to be used for airport expansion and improvements. We do not have any formal, written agreements with the airport management that govern access fees, landing rights or allocation of terminal gates. We rely upon our good working relationship with the airport’s management and the Panamanian government to ensure that we have access to the airport resources we need at prices that are reasonable.

We worked closely with the airport’s management and consulted with the IATA infrastructure group to provide plans and guidance for Phase I of an airport expansion that provided eight new gate positions with jet bridges, six new remote parking positions, expanded retail areas and improved the baggage-handling facilities. The government authorized $70 million to cover the costs of this expansion. Work on Phase I was completed in the third quarter of 2006. Phase II of the expansion of the terminal will add 12 additional jet bridge gates. Copa is actively participating in the design of this expansion, and the project is scheduled for completion in 2011.

We provide all of our own ground services and handling of passengers and cargo at Tocumen International Airport. In addition, we provide services to several of the principal foreign airlines that operate at Tocumen. At most of the foreign airports where we operate, foreign airport services companies provide all of our support services other than sales, counter services and some minor maintenance.

We lease a variety of facilities at Tocumen, including our maintenance hangar and our operations facilities in the airport terminal. From our System Operations Control Center located within our corporate headquarters building, we dispatch, track and direct our aircraft throughout the hemisphere and respond to operational contingencies as necessary. We generally cooperate with the airport authority to modify the lease terms as necessary to account for capital improvements and expansion plans. Currently, our elite passengers have access to a President’s Club at the airport, which is jointly operated with Continental. The President’s Club was recently expanded to approximately one and half times its current size, utilizing space made available during the recent expansion of the terminal.

Fuel

Fuel costs are extremely volatile, as they are subject to many global economic, geopolitical, weather, environmental and other factors that we can neither control nor accurately predict. Due to its inherent volatility, aircraft fuel has historically been our most unpredictable unit cost. As a result of the world’s economic condition, demand for oil has surged, especially in fast-growing China. This increase in demand coupled with limited refinery capacity and instability in oil-exporting countries has led to a rapid increase in prices.

		Aircraft Fuel Data
		2004				2005				2006				2007				2008
Copa
Average price per gallon of jet fuel into plane (excluding hedge) (in U.S. dollars)		$	1.32			$	1.87			$	2.10			$	2.29			$	3.21
Gallons consumed (in thousands)			50,833				58,924				70,770				85,463				100,266
Available seat miles (in millions)			3,639				4,409				5,239				6,298				7,342
Gallons per ASM (in hundredths)			1.40				1.34				1.35				1.36				1.37
AeroRepública(1)
Average price per gallon of jet fuel into plane (excluding hedge) (in U.S. dollars)			—			$	2.12			$	2.24			$	2.43			$	3.49
Gallons consumed (in thousands)			—				17,887				28,321				26,984				24,798
Available seat miles (in millions)			—				950				1,627				1,620				1,503
Gallons per ASM (in hundredths)			—				1.88				1.74				1.67				1.65

Since 2002, aircraft fuel prices have been rising. From 2004 to 2008, the average price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, a benchmark widely used for crude oil prices that is measured in barrels and quoted in U.S. dollars, increased by 141% from $41.47 per barrel to $99.93 per barrel. During 2008, fuel prices experienced significant volatility, with West Texas Intermediate crude prices reaching the record price of approximately $145 per barrel in July. Prices then dropped to approximately $44 per barrel at the end of December. While prices have significantly decreased since their peak in 2008, we believe that fuel prices are likely to increase in the future. In 2008, we hedged 27% of our requirements through the use of jet fuel swap contracts and crude oil zero-cost collars. We have hedged approximately 27%, 6% and 9% of our anticipated fuel needs for 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. We will continue to evaluate various hedging strategies, and we may enter into additional hedging agreements in the future. Any prolonged increase in the price of jet fuel will likely materially and negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operation. To date, we have managed to offset some of the increases in fuel prices with higher load factors, fuel surcharges and fare increases. In addition, our relative young, winglet-equipped fleet also helps us mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices.

Insurance

We maintain passenger liability insurance in an amount consistent with industry practice, and we insure our aircraft against losses and damages on an “all risks” basis. We have obtained all insurance coverage required by the terms of our leasing and financing agreements. We believe our insurance coverage is consistent with airline industry standards and appropriate to protect us from material loss in light of the activities we conduct. No assurance can be given, however, that the amount of insurance we carry will be sufficient to protect us from material losses. We have negotiated low premiums on our Copa insurance policies by leveraging the purchasing power of our alliance partner, Continental. Copa’s hull and liability operations are insured under Continental’s joint insurance policy with Northwest Airlines. We maintain separate insurance policies for our AeroRepública operations.

Environmental

Our operations are covered by various local, national, and international environmental regulations. These regulations cover, among other things, emissions into the atmosphere, disposal of solid waste and aqueous effluents, aircraft noise and other activities that result from the operation of aircraft. Our aircraft comply with all environmental standards applicable to their operations as described in this annual report. We have hired a consulting firm to conduct an environmental audit of our hanger and support facilities at the Tocumen International Airport to determine what, if any, measures we need to implement in order to satisfy the Panamanian effluent standards and the General Environmental Law at those facilities. A base line study of our effluents was completed. We plan to implement all measures required for compliance based on the environmental audit recently finalized, in order to qualify for the Environmental Excellence Certification Program before the Environmental Authority. Additionally, the Panamanian Civil Aviation Code (RAC) contains certain environmental provisions that are similar to those set forth in the General Environmental Law regarding effluents, although such provisions do not contain compliance grace periods.

In the event the AAC determines that our facilities do not currently meet the RAC standards, we could be subject to a fine. The measures that will be implemented pursuant to the environmental audit will also satisfy the requirements of the RAC. We have installed a water treatment plant to serve part of our facilities and seek to complete the preparation of an Environmental Remediation and Management Program (PAMA) in order to seek approval thereof by the Environmental Authority. Such program shall set forth an environmental compliance schedule. While we do not believe that compliance with these regulations will expose us to material expenditures, compliance with these or other environmental regulations, whether new or existing, that may be applicable to us in the future could increase our costs. In addition, failure to comply with these regulations could adversely affect us in a variety of ways, including adverse effects on our reputation.

Regulation

Panama

Authorization and Licenses. Panamanian law requires airlines providing commercial services in Panama to hold an Operation Certificate and an Air Transportation License/Certificate issued by the AAC. The Air Transportation Certificate specifies the routes, equipment used, capacity, and the frequency of flights. This certificate must be updated every time Copa acquires new aircraft, or when routes and frequencies to a particular destination are modified.

Panamanian law also requires that the aircraft operated by Copa be registered with the Panamanian National Aviation Registrar kept by the AAC, and that the Panamanian National Aviation Authority certify the airworthiness of each aircraft in Copa’s fleet. Copa’s aircraft must be re-certified every year. This requirement does not apply to AeroRepública’s aircraft which are registered in Colombia.

The Panamanian government does not have an equity interest in our company. Bilateral agreements signed by the Panamanian government have protected our operational position and route network, allowing us to have in Panama a significant hub to transport intraregion traffic within and between the Americas and the Caribbean. All international fares are filed and technically subject to the approval of the Panamanian government. Historically, we have been able to modify ticket prices on a daily basis to respond to market conditions. Our status as a private carrier means that we are not required under Panamanian law to serve any particular route and are free to withdraw service from any of the routes we currently serve as we see fit, subject to bilateral agreements. We are also free to determine the frequency of service we offer across our route network without any minimum frequencies imposed by the Panamanian authorities.

Safety Assessment. In May 2001, the FAA downgraded Panama’s IASA rating from a Category 1 rating to a Category 2 rating due to alleged deficiencies in Panamanian air safety standards and the AAC’s capacity to provide regulatory oversight. We collaborated with the Panamanian government to restore the country’s Category 1 status, a status that is important both to the operations of Copa as an airline and the general perception of Panama as a country, particularly in view of the fact that the major initiative is to boost tourism in Panama. The country’s Category 1 status was restored in April 2004.

Ownership Requirements. The most significant restriction on our company imposed by the Panamanian Aviation Act, as amended and interpreted to date, is that Panamanian nationals must exercise “effective control” over the operations of the airline and must maintain “substantial ownership.” These phrases are not defined in the Aviation Act itself and it is unclear how a Panamanian court would interpret them. The share ownership requirements and transfer restrictions contained in our Articles of Incorporation, as well as the structure of our capital stock described under the caption “Description of Capital Stock,” are designed to ensure compliance with these ownership and control restrictions created by the Aviation Act. While we believe that our ownership structure complies with the ownership and control restrictions of the Aviation Act as interpreted by a recent decree by the Executive Branch, we cannot assure you that a Panamanian court would share our interpretation of the Aviation Act or the decree or that any such interpretations would remain valid for the entire time you hold our Class A shares.

Although the Panamanian government does not currently have the authority to dictate the terms of our service, the government is responsible for negotiating the bilateral agreements with other nations that allow us to fly to other countries. Several of these agreements require Copa to remain “effectively controlled” and “substantially owned” by Panamanian nationals in order for us to use the rights conferred by the agreements. Such requirements are analogous to the Panamanian aviation law described above that requires Panamanian control of our business.

Antitrust Regulations. In 1996, the Republic of Panama enacted antitrust legislation, which regulates industry concentration and vertical anticompetitive practices and prohibits horizontal collusion. The Consumer Protection and Free Trade Authority is in charge of enforcement and may impose fines only after a competent court renders an adverse judgment. The law also provides for direct action by any affected market participant or consumer, independently or though class actions. The law does not provide for the granting of antitrust immunity, as is the case in the United States. In February 2006, the antitrust legislation was amended to increase the maximum fines that may be assessed for violations to $1,000,000 for per se violations and $250,000 for relative violations of antitrust law.

Noise Restrictions. Panama has adopted Annex 16 of the ICAO regulations and the noise abatement provisions of ICAO, through Book XIV of the Panamanian Civil Aviation Regulations (RAC). Thus, articles 227-229 of Book XIV of the RAC require aircraft registered in Panama to comply with at least Stage 2 noise requirements, and all aircraft registered for the first time with the Panamanian Civil Aviation Authority after January 1, 2003, to comply with Stage 3 noise restrictions. Currently, all the airplanes we operate or have on order meet the most stringent noise requirements established by both ICAO and the AAC.

Colombia

The Colombian aviation market is heavily regulated by the Colombian Civil Aviation Administration, Unidad Especial Administrativa de Aeronáutica Civil, or Aeronautica Civil. Colombia is a Category 1 country under the FAA’s IASA program. With respect to domestic aviation, airlines must present feasibility studies to secure specific route rights, and no airline may serve the city pairs with the most traffic unless that airline has at least five aircraft with valid airworthiness certificate. In addition, Aeronautica Civil sets maximum fares for each route and a maximum number of competing airlines for each route based on the size of the city pairs served. Airlines in Colombia must also add a surcharge for fuel to their ticket prices. In addition, since November 2006, airlines must have to charge an administrative fee (“Tarifa administrativa”) for each ticket sold through an airline’s direct channels. Passengers in Colombia are also entitled by law to compensation in the event of delays in excess of four hours, over-bookings and cancellations. Currently, the San Andres, Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, Medellin, Monteria and Barranquilla airports are under private management arrangements. Furthermore, the government is privatizing other airports in order to finance necessary expansion projects and increase the efficiency of operations, which may lead to increases in landing fees and facility rentals at those airports.

Colombia has open-skies agreements with Aruba and the Andean Pact nations of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru (Comunidad Andina). AeroRepública has been granted the use of 30 of the 56 available route rights for service by Colombian carriers between Colombia and Panama, and as a result, began scheduled service between the two countries in late 2005. In addition, AeroRepública was granted 33 additional bilateral frequencies per week, 13 of these frequencies to Panama from Bucaramanga, Pereira and Barranquilla, have yet to be utilized.

U.S.

Operations to the United States by non-U.S. airlines, such as Copa, are subject to Title 49 of the U.S. Code, under which the DOT, the FAA and the TSA exercise regulatory authority. The U.S. Department of Justice also has jurisdiction over airline competition matters under the federal antitrust laws.

Authorizations and Licenses. The DOT has jurisdiction over international aviation with respect to air transportation to and from the United States, including regulation of related route authorities, the granting of which are subject to review by the President of the United States. The DOT exercises its jurisdiction with respect to unfair practices and methods of competition by airlines and related consumer protection matters as to all airlines operating to and from the United States. We are authorized by the DOT to engage in scheduled and charter air transportation services, including the transportation of persons, property (cargo) and mail, or combinations thereof, between points in Panama and points in the United States and beyond (via intermediate points in other countries). We hold the necessary authorizations from the DOT in the form of a foreign air carrier permit, an exemption authority and statements of authorization to conduct our current operations to and from the United States. The exemption authority was granted by the DOT in February 1998 and was due to expire in February 2000. However, the authority remains in effect by operation of law under the terms of the Administrative Procedure Act pending final DOT action on the application we filed to renew the authority on January 3, 2000. There can be no assurance that the DOT will grant the application. Our foreign air carrier permit has no expiration date.

Our operations to the United States are also subject to regulation by the FAA with respect to aviation safety matters, including aircraft maintenance and operations, equipment, aircraft noise, ground facilities, dispatch, communications, personnel, training, weather observation, air traffic control and other matters affecting air safety. The FAA requires each foreign air carrier serving the United States to obtain operational specifications pursuant to 14 CFR Part 129 of its regulations and to meet operational criteria associated with operating specified equipment on approved international routes. We believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with all requirements necessary to maintain in good standing our operations specifications issued by the FAA. The FAA can amend, suspend, revoke or terminate those specifications, or can temporarily suspend or permanently revoke our authority if we fail to comply with the regulations, and can assess civil penalties for such failure. A modification, suspension or revocation of any of our DOT authorizations or FAA operating specifications could have a material adverse effect on our business. The FAA also conducts safety audits and has the power to impose fines and other sanctions for violations of airline safety regulations. We have not incurred any material fines related to operations. The FAA also conducts safety International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) as to Panama’s compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards. Panama is currently considered a Category 1 country that complies with ICAO international safety standards. As a Class 1 country, no limitations are placed upon our operating rights to the Unites States. If the FAA should determine that Panama does not meet the ICAO safety standards, the FAA and DOT would restrict our rights to expand operations to the United States. We can offer no assurance of Panama’s continued compliance with ICAO safety standards.

Security. On November 19, 2001, the U.S. Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, (the “Aviation Security Act”). This law federalized substantially all aspects of civil aviation security and created the TSA, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, to which the security responsibilities previously held by the FAA were transitioned. The Aviation Security Act requires, among other things, the implementation of certain security measures by airlines and airports, such as the requirement that all passengers, their bags and all cargo be screened for explosives and other security related contraband. Funding for airline and airport security required under the Aviation Security Act is provided in part by a $2.50 per segment passenger security fee for flights departing from the U.S., subject to a $10 per roundtrip cap; however, airlines are responsible for costs incurred to meet security requirements beyond those provided by the TSA. The United States Government is considering increases to this fee as the TSA’s costs exceed the revenue it receives from these fees. Implementation of the requirements of the Aviation Security Act has resulted in increased costs for airlines and their passengers. Since the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress has mandated and the TSA has implemented numerous security procedures and requirements that have imposed and will continue to impose burdens on airlines, passengers and shippers.

Passenger Facility Charges. Most major U.S. airports impose passenger facility charges. The ability of airlines to contest increases in these charges is restricted by federal legislation, DOT regulations and judicial decisions. With certain exceptions, air carriers pass these charges on to passengers. However, our ability to pass through passenger facility charges to our customers is subject to various factors, including market conditions and competitive factors. The current cap on passenger facility charges is $4.50 per segment, subject to an $18 per roundtrip cap; however, there is legislation in Congress to raise the cap on passenger facility charges.

Airport Access. Two U.S. airports at which we operate, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York (“JFK”) and Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., have been designated by the FAA as “high density traffic airports”. From time to time, operations at these airports have been subject to arrival and departure slot restrictions during certain periods of the day. Although slot restrictions at JFK were eliminated as of January 1, 2007, on January 15, 2008, the FAA issued an order limiting the number of scheduled flight operations at JFK during peak hours to address the over-scheduling, congestion and delays at JFK during 2007. The DOT also recently issued a notice of proposed amendment to its Airport Rates and Charges policy that would allow airports to establish non-weight based fees during peak hours and to apportion certain expenses from “reliever” airports to the charges for larger airports in an effort to limit congestion. We cannot predict the outcome of this potential rule change on our costs or ability to operate in congested airports.

Noise Restrictions. Under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 and related FAA regulations, aircraft that fly to the United States must comply with certain Stage 3 noise restrictions, which are currently the most stringent FAA operating noise requirements. All of our Copa aircraft meet the Stage 3 requirement.

Other Regulation. FAA regulations also require compliance with the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, approved airborne windshear warning system and aging aircraft regulations. Our fleet meets these requirements. In addition, all air carriers are subject to certain provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, because of their extensive use of radio and other communication facilities, and are required to obtain an aeronautical radio license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). To the extent we are subject to FCC requirements, we have taken and will continue to take all necessary steps to comply with those requirements. Additional U.S. laws and regulations have been proposed from time to time that could significantly increase the cost of airline operations by imposing additional requirements or restrictions on airlines. There can be no assurance that laws and regulations currently enacted or enacted in the future will not adversely affect our ability to maintain our current level of operating results.

Other Jurisdictions

We are also subject to regulation by the aviation regulatory bodies which set standards and enforce national aviation legislation in each of the jurisdictions to which we fly. These regulators may have the power to set fares, enforce environmental and safety standards, levy fines, restrict operations within their respective jurisdictions or any other powers associated with aviation regulation. We cannot predict how these various regulatory bodies will perform in the future and the evolving standards enforced by any of them could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

C. Organizational Structure

The following is an organizational chart showing Copa Holdings and its principal subsidiaries.

Copa is our principal airline operating subsidiary that operates out of our hub in Panama and provides passenger service in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. AeroRepública S.A. is our operating subsidiary that is primarily engaged in domestic air travel within Colombia and international service from various points in Colombia to Panama City and Caracas. Oval Financial Leasing, Ltd. controls the special purpose vehicles that have a beneficial interest in the majority of our aircraft.

D. Property, Plants and Equipment

Headquarters

In 2005, we moved into a newly built headquarters building located six miles away from Tocumen International Airport. We have leased five floors consisting of approximately 104,000 square feet of the building from Desarollo Inmobiliario del Este, S.A., an entity controlled by the same group of investors that controls CIASA, under a 10-year lease at a rate of $106,000 per month during the first three years, $110,000 per month during year 4 through year 6, $113,000 during year 7 through year 9 and $116,000 per month in year 10, which we believe to be a market rate. During the fourth quarter of 2006, we sold our previous headquarters building in Panama City to a third party.

Other Property

At Tocumen International Airport, we lease a maintenance hangar, operations offices in the terminal, counter space, parking spaces and other operational properties from the entity that manages the airport. We pay approximately $85,000 per month for this leased property. Around Panama City, we also lease various office spaces, parking spaces and other properties from a variety of lessors, for which we pay approximately $10,000 per month in the aggregate.

In each of our destination cities, we also lease space at the airport for check-in, reservations and airport ticket office sales, and we lease space for CTOs in more than 34 of those cities.

AeroRepública

AeroRepública leases most of its airport and CTOs. Owned properties include one city ticket office, a warehouse close to the airport and one floor in a high-rise building in downtown Bogota.

Item 4A. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects

A. Operating Results

You should read the following discussion in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and the other financial information included elsewhere in this annual report.

We are a leading Latin American provider of airline passenger and cargo service through our two principal operating subsidiaries, Copa and AeroRepública. Copa operates from its strategically located position in the Republic of Panama, and AeroRepública provides service primarily within Colombia complemented by international flights from various cities in Colombia to Panama City and Caracas. We currently operate a fleet of 55 aircraft, 27 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft, 24 Embraer 190 aircraft and four MD-80 aircraft. We currently have firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, for 15 Boeing 737-Next Generation and two Embraer 190s, and purchase rights and options for up three additional Boeing 737-Next Generation and 11 additional Embraer 190s.

Copa currently offers approximately 152 daily scheduled flights among 45 destinations in 24 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean from its Panama City hub. Copa provides passengers with access to flights to more than 120 other destinations through codeshare arrangements with Continental pursuant to which each airline places its name and flight designation code on the other’s flights. Through its Panama City hub, Copa is able to consolidate passenger traffic from multiple points to serve each destination effectively.

Copa operates a modern fleet of 27 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft and 15 Embraer 190 aircraft with an average age of approximately 4.2 years as of December 31, 2008. To meet its growing capacity requirements, Copa has firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, to accept delivery of 15 additional aircraft through 2012 and has purchase rights and options that, if exercised, would allow it to accept delivery of up to nine additional aircraft through 2012. Copa’s firm orders are for 15 additional Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft, and its purchase rights and options are for up to three Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft and up to six Embraer 190s.

Copa started its strategic alliance with Continental in 1998. Since then, it has conducted joint marketing and code-sharing arrangements, and participated in the award-winning OnePass frequent flyer loyalty program globally and on a co-branded basis in Latin America. We believe that Copa’s co-branding and joint marketing activities with Continental have enhanced its brand in Latin America, and that the relationship with Continental has afforded it cost-related benefits, such as improving purchasing power in negotiations with aircraft vendors and insurers. Copa’s alliance and related services agreements with Continental are in effect until 2015.

During the second quarter of 2005, we purchased AeroRepública, a Colombian air carrier that was the second-largest domestic carrier in Colombia in terms of number of passengers carried in 2005, which at the time provided point-to-point service among 11 cities in Colombia. AeroRepública currently operates a fleet of nine Embraer 190 and four MD-80 and has expanded its routes to include international point-to-point service from various Colombian cities to Panama City and Caracas. As part of its fleet modernization and expansion plan, AeroRepública has firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, to accept delivery of two Embraer 190 aircraft through the end of 2009 and options to purchase up to five additional Embraer 190 aircraft through 2013.

Fuel is our single largest operating expense and, as a result, our results of operations are likely to continue to be materially affected by the cost of fuel as compared with prior periods. From 2004 to 2008, the average price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, a benchmark widely used for crude oil prices that is measured in barrels and quoted in U.S. dollars, increased by 141% from $41.47 per barrel to $99.93 per barrel. During 2008, fuel prices experienced significant volatility, with West Texas Intermediate crude prices reaching the record price of approximately $145 per barrel in July. Prices then dropped to approximately $44 per barrel at the end of December. While prices have decreased since their peak in 2008, we believe that fuel prices are likely to increase in the future. To date, we have managed to offset some of the increases in fuel prices by managing load factors, fuel related price increases, which may take the form of fare increases or fuel surcharges, and cost cutting initiatives. We estimate that we were able to offset approximately 100% of the increase in unit costs in 2008 as compared to 2007 through higher unit revenues. Although there are other factors affecting unit costs, management considers the 100% cost recoverability to be a fair estimate of the coverage of incremental fuel prices, as most of the increase in unit costs is related to fuel price. We have hedged approximately 27%, 6% and 9% of our anticipated fuel needs for 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively. We will continue to evaluate various hedging strategies, and we may enter into additional hedging agreements in the future.

Regional Economic Environment

Our historical financial results have been, and we expect them to continue to be, materially affected by the general level of economic activity and growth of per capita disposable income in North, South and Central America and the Caribbean (drivers of our passenger revenue) and the volume of trade between countries in the region (the principal driver of our cargo revenue).

According to data from The Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, an annual United Nations publication prepared by the Economic Development Division, the economy of Latin America (including the Caribbean) grew by approximately 4.6% and 5.7% in 2008 and 2007, respectively. In recent years, the Panamanian economy has closely tracked the economies of the United States and of Latin America. In 2008, however, the Panamanian economy grew in real terms by approximately 8.3% (versus 8.5% in 2007), according to the International Monetary Fund’s estimates, and significantly exceeded the growth rate of the region. Inflation in Panama rose approximately 5.8% in 2008 (versus 3.8% in 2007). Additionally, the Colombian economy has experienced relatively stable growth. According to the International Monetary Fund estimates, the Colombian gross domestic product grew by approximately 6.8% 2006, 6.6% in 2007 and 4.0% in 2008 with inflation (as indicated by the consumer price index) rising by approximately 4.3% in 2006, 5.5% in 2007 and 7.3% in 2008.

Revenues

We derive our revenues primarily from passenger transportation which represents approximately 94% of our revenues, with approximately 6% derived from cargo and other revenues.

We recognize passenger revenue when transportation is provided and when unused tickets expire. Passenger revenues reflect the capacity of our aircraft on the routes we fly, load factor and yield. Our capacity is measured in terms of available seat miles (ASMs) which represents the number of seats available on our aircraft multiplied by the number of miles the seats are flown. Our usage is measured in terms of revenue passenger miles (RPMs) which is the number of revenue passengers multiplied by the miles these passengers fly. Load factor, or the percentage of our capacity that is actually used by paying customers, is calculated by dividing RPMs by ASMs. Yield is the average amount that one passenger pays to fly one mile. We use a combination of approaches, taking into account yields, flight load factors and effects on load factors of connecting traffic, depending on the characteristics of the markets served, to arrive at a strategy for achieving the best possible revenue per available seat mile, balancing the average fare charged against the corresponding effect on our load factors.

We recognize cargo revenue when transportation is provided. Our other revenue consists primarily of excess baggage charges, ticket change fees and charter flights.

Overall demand for our passenger and cargo services is highly dependent on the regional economic environment in which we operate, including the GDP of the countries we serve and the disposable income of the residents of those countries. We believe that approximately 50% of our passengers travel at least in part for business reasons, and the growth of intraregional trade greatly affects that portion of our business. The remaining 50% of our passengers are tourists or travelers visiting friends and family.

The following table sets forth our capacity, load factor and yields for the periods indicated.

		Year Ended December 31,
		2006				2007				2008
Copa Segment
Capacity (in available seat miles, in millions)			5,239.1				6,297.9				7,341.9
Load factor			77.8	%			78.4	%			78.8	%
Yield (in cents)			15.49				15.33				16.81
AeroRepública Segment
Capacity (in available seat miles, in millions)			1,627.1				1,620.4				1,502.7
Load factor			57.9	%			57.2	%			61.7	%
Yield (in cents)(1)			17.79				22.74				26.31

(1)		AeroRepública has not historically distinguished between revenue passengers and non-revenue passengers. We are implementing systems at AeroRepública to record that information.

Seasonality

Generally, our revenues from and profitability of our flights peak during the northern hemisphere’s summer season in July and August and again during the December and January holiday season. Given our high proportion of fixed costs, this seasonality is likely to cause our results of operations to vary from quarter to quarter.

Operating Expenses

The main components of our operating expenses are aircraft fuel, salaries and benefits, passenger servicing, commissions, aircraft maintenance, reservations and sales and aircraft rent. A common measure of per unit costs in the airline industry is cost per available seat mile (CASM), which is generally defined as operating expenses divided by ASMs.

Aircraft fuel. The price we pay for aircraft fuel varies significantly from country to country primarily due to local taxes. While we purchase aircraft fuel at all the airports to which we fly, we attempt to negotiate fueling contracts with companies that have a multinational presence in order to benefit from volume purchases. During 2008, as a result of the location of its hub, Copa purchased approximately 58% of its aircraft fuel in Panama, where it was able to obtain better prices due to volume discounts. Copa has over 15 suppliers of aircraft fuel across its network. In some cases we tanker fuel in order to minimize our cost by fueling in airports where fuel prices are lowest. Our aircraft fuel expenses are variable and fluctuate based on global oil prices. From 2004 to 2008, the average price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, a benchmark widely used for crude oil prices that is measured in barrels and quoted in U.S. dollars, increased by 141% from $41.47 per barrel to $99.93 per barrel. To date, we have managed to offset some of the increases in fuel prices with higher load factors, fuel surcharges and fare increases. In addition, our relatively young, winglet-equipped fleet also helps us mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices. Historically, we have not hedged a significant portion of our fuel costs. We have hedged approximately 27%, 6% and 9% of our anticipated fuel needs for 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

		Aircraft Fuel Data
		2004				2005				2006				2007				2008
Copa Segment
Average price per gallon of jet fuel into plane (excluding hedge) (in U.S. dollars)		$	1.32			$	1.87			$	2.10			$	2.29			$	3.21
Gallons consumed (in thousands)			50,833				58,924				70,770				85,463				100,266
Available seat miles (in millions)			3,639				4,409				5,239				6,298				7,342
Gallons per ASM (in hundredths)			1.40				1.34				1.35				1.36				1.37
AeroRepública(1)
Average price per gallon of jet fuel into plane (excluding hedge) (in U.S. dollars)			—			$	2.12			$	2.24			$	2.43			$	3.49
Gallons consumed (in thousands)			—				17,887				28,321				26,984				24,798
Available seat miles (in millions)			—				950				1,627				1,620				1,503
Gallons per ASM (in hundredths)			—				1.88				1.74				1.67				1.65

Salaries and benefits. Salaries and benefits expenses have historically increased at the rate of inflation and by the growth in the number of our employees. In some cases, we have adjusted salaries of our employees to correspond to changes in the cost of living in the countries where these employees work. We do not increase salaries based on seniority.

Passenger servicing expenses. Our passenger servicing expenses consist of expenses for liability insurance, baggage handling, catering, in-flight entertainment and other costs related to aircraft and airport services. These expenses are generally directly related to the number of passengers we carry or the number of flights we operate.

Commissions. Our commission expenses consist primarily of payments for ticket sales made by travel agents and commissions paid to credit card companies. Travel agents receive base commissions, not including back-end incentive programs, ranging from 0% to 6% depending on the country. During the last few years we have reduced our commission expense per available seat mile as a result of an industry-wide trend of paying lower commissions to travel agencies and by increasing the proportion of our sales made through direct channels. We expect this trend to continue as more of our customers become accustomed to purchasing through call centers and through the internet. While increasing direct sales may increase the commissions we pay to credit card companies, we expect that the savings from the corresponding reduction in travel agency commissions will more than offset this increase. In recent years, base commissions paid to travel agents have decreased significantly. At the same time, we have encouraged travel agencies to move from standard base commissions to incentive compensation based on sales volume and fare types.

Maintenance, material and repair expenses. Our maintenance, material and repair expenses consist of aircraft repair and charges related to light and heavy maintenance of our aircraft, including maintenance materials. Maintenance and repair expenses, including overhaul of aircraft components, are charged to operating expenses as incurred. With an average age of only 4.2 years as of December 31, 2008, our Copa fleet requires a low level of maintenance compared to the older fleets of some of our competitors. We also currently incur lower maintenance expenses on our Boeing and Embraer aircraft because a significant number of our aircraft parts remain under multi-year warranties. As the age of our fleet increases and when our warranties expire, our maintenance expenses will increase. We only conduct line maintenance internally and outsource heavy maintenance to independent third party contractors. In 2003, we negotiated with GE Engine Services a maintenance cost per hour program for the repair and maintenance of our CFM-56 engines which power our Boeing 737 Next Generation fleet. Our engine maintenance costs are also aided by the sea-level elevation of our hub and the use of winglets which allow us to operate the engines on our Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft with lower thrust, thus putting less strain on the engines.

Line maintenance for AeroRepública’s MD-80s and Embraer fleet is performed by AeroRepública’s in-house maintenance staff. Heavy maintenance for the MD-80s is performed by FAA-certified third-party aviation maintenance companies. The average age of AeroRepública’s fleet as of December 31, 2008 was 5.7 years.

Aircraft rent. Our aircraft rental expenses are generally fixed by the terms of our operating lease agreements. Currently, six of Copa’s operating leases have fixed rates which are not subject to fluctuations in interest rates and the seventh is tied to LIBOR. All of AeroRepública’s operating leases have fixed rates which are not subject to fluctuations in interest rates. Our aircraft rent expense also includes rental payments related to our wet-leasing of freighter aircraft to supplement our cargo operations.

Reservations and sales expenses. Our reservations and sales expenses arise primarily from payments to global distribution systems, such as Amadeus and Sabre, that list our flight offerings on reservation systems around the world. These reservation systems tend to raise their rates periodically, but we expect that if we are successful in encouraging our customers to purchase tickets through our direct sales channels, these costs will decrease as a percentage of our operating costs. A portion of our reservations and sales expense is also comprised of our licensing payments for the SHARES reservation and check-in management software we use, which is not expected to change significantly from period to period.

Flight operations and landing fees and other rentals are generally directly related to the number of flights we operate.

Other includes publicity and promotion expenses, expenses related to our cargo operations, technology related initiatives and miscellaneous other expenses.

Taxes

We pay taxes in the Republic of Panama and in other countries in which we operate, based on regulations in effect in each respective country. Our revenues come principally from foreign operations and according to the Panamanian Fiscal Code these foreign operations are not subject to income tax in Panama.

We have elected to calculate our Panamanian income tax with the alternative gross tax election. Under this method, based on Article 121 of the Panamanian Fiscal Code, income for international transportation companies is calculated based on a territoriality method that determines gross revenues earned in Panama by applying the percentage of miles flown within the Panamanian territory against total revenues. Under this method, loss carry-forwards cannot be applied to offset tax liability. Dividends from our Panamanian subsidiaries, including Copa, are separately subject to a ten percent tax if such dividends can be shown to be derived from Panamanian income that has not been otherwise taxed.

We are also subject to local tax regulations in each of the other jurisdictions where we operate, the great majority of which are related to the taxation of our income. In some of the countries to which we fly, we do not pay any income taxes because we do not generate income under the laws of those countries either because they do not have income taxes or due to treaties or other arrangements those countries have with Panama. In the remaining countries, we pay income tax at a rate ranging from 25% to 34% of our income attributable to those countries. Different countries calculate our income in different ways, but they are typically derived from our sales in the applicable country multiplied by our net margin or by a presumed net margin set by the relevant tax legislation. The determination of our taxable income in several countries is based on a combination of revenues sourced to each particular country and the allocation of expenses to that particular country. The methodology for multinational transportation company sourcing of revenue and expense is not always specifically prescribed in the relevant tax regulations, and therefore is subject to interpretation by both ourselves and the respective tax authorities. Additionally, in some countries, the applicability of certain regulations governing non-income taxes and the determination of our filing status are also subject to interpretation. We cannot estimate the amount, if any, of the potential tax liabilities that might result if the allocations, interpretations and filing positions we use in preparing our income tax returns were challenged by the tax authorities of one or more countries. It is possible that we may become subject to tax in jurisdictions in which, for prior years, we had not been subject to tax and that, in the future, we may become subject to increased taxes in the countries to which we fly.

Under a reciprocal exemption confirmed by a bilateral agreement between Panama and the United States, we are exempt from the U.S. source transportation income tax derived from the international operation of aircraft.

We paid taxes totaling approximately $11.3 million in 2006, $16.6 million in 2007, and $14.9 million in 2008.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires our management to adopt accounting policies and make estimates and judgments to develop amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and related notes. We strive to maintain a process to review the application of our accounting policies and to evaluate the appropriateness of the estimates required for the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. We believe that our estimates and judgments are reasonable; however, actual results and the timing of recognition of such amounts could differ from those estimates. In addition, estimates routinely require adjustments based on changing circumstances and the receipt of new or better information.

Critical accounting policies and estimates are defined as those that are reflective of significant judgments and uncertainties and potentially result in materially different results under different assumptions and conditions. For a discussion of these and other accounting policies, see Note 1 to our annual consolidated financial statements.

Revenue recognition. Passenger revenue is recognized when transportation is provided rather than when a ticket is sold. The amount of passenger ticket sales not yet recognized as revenue is reflected in the “Air traffic liability” line on our consolidated balance sheet. Fares for tickets that have expired and/or are more than one year old are recognized as passenger revenue upon expiration.

Cargo and mail services revenue are recognized when we provide the shipping services and thereby complete the earning process. Other revenue is primarily comprised of excess baggage charges, commissions earned on tickets sold for flights on other airlines and charter flights and is recognized when transportation or service is provided.

Frequent flyer program. We participate in Continental’s frequent flyer program “OnePass,” through which our passengers receive all the benefits and privileges offered by the OnePass program. Continental is responsible for the administration of the OnePass program. Under the terms of our frequent flyer agreement with Continental, OnePass members receive OnePass frequent flyer mileage credits for travel on Copa and AeroRepública, and we pay Continental a per mile rate for each mileage credit granted by Continental, at which point we have no further obligation. The amounts due to Continental under this agreement are expensed by us as the mileage credits are earned.

Goodwill and indefinite-lived purchased intangible assets. In accordance with SFAS No. 142, “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets”, we perform impairment testing of goodwill separately from impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangibles. We test goodwill for impairment, at least annually, by comparing the book value to the fair value at the reporting segment level and individually test indefinite-lived intangibles, at least annually, by comparing the individual book values to fair values. Considerable management judgment is necessary to evaluate the impact of operating and macroeconomic changes and to estimate future cash flows to measure fair value. Assumptions used in our impairment evaluations are consistent with internal projections and operating plans. We did not recognize any impairment charges for goodwill or intangibles assets during the years presented. All of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible are allocated in the AeroRepública segment and are tested annually for impairment. For the years ended December 2008 and 2007, amounts of goodwill and intangible assets have changed due to exchange effect.

Derivative instruments and hedging activities. We account for derivatives and hedging activities in accordance with FASB Statement No. 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Certain Hedging Activities, as amended, which requires entities to recognize all derivative instruments as either assets or liabilities on their balance sheet at their respective fair values. For derivatives designated as hedges, changes in the fair value are either offset against the change in fair value, for the risk being hedged, of the assets and liabilities through earnings, or recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income until the hedged item is recognized in earnings.

We enter into derivative contracts that we designate as a hedge of a forecasted transaction or the variability of cash flows to be received or paid related to a recognized asset or liability (cash flow hedge). For all hedging relationships we formally document the hedging relationship and its risk-management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge, the hedging instrument, the hedged item, the nature of the risk being hedged, how the hedging instrument’s effectiveness in offsetting the hedged risk will be assessed prospectively and retrospectively, and a description of the method of measuring ineffectiveness. We also formally assess, both at the hedge’s inception and on an ongoing basis, whether the derivatives that are used in hedging transactions are highly effective in offsetting cash flows of hedged items.

Changes in the fair value of a derivative that is highly effective and that is designated and qualifies as a cash-flow hedge are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income to the extent that the derivative is effective as a hedge, until earnings are affected by the variability in cash flows of the designated hedged item. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of a derivative instrument that qualifies as a cash-flow hedge is reported in earnings.

We discontinue hedge accounting prospectively when we determine that the derivative is no longer effective in offsetting cash flows of the hedged item, the derivative expires or is sold, terminated, or exercised, the derivative is de-designated as a hedging instrument because it is unlikely that a forecasted transaction will occur, or management determines that designation of the derivative as a hedging instrument is no longer appropriate.

In all situations in which hedge accounting is discontinued and the derivative is retained, we continue to carry the derivative at its fair value on the balance sheet and recognize any subsequent changes in its fair value in earnings. When it is probable that a forecasted transaction will not occur, we discontinue hedge accounting and recognize immediately in earnings gains and losses that were accumulated in other comprehensive income.

Maintenance and repair costs. Maintenance and repair costs for owned and leased flight equipment, including the overhaul of aircraft components, are charged to operating expenses as incurred. Engine overhaul costs covered by power-by-the-hour arrangements are paid and expensed as incurred, on the basis of hours flown per the contract. Under the terms of our power-by-the-hour agreements, we pay a set dollar amount per engine hour flown on a monthly basis and the third-party vendor assumes the obligation to repair the engines at no additional cost to us, subject to certain specified exclusions.

Additionally, although our aircraft lease agreements specifically provide that we, as lessee, are responsible for maintenance of the leased aircraft, we do, under certain of our existing lease agreements, pay maintenance reserves to aircraft and engine lessors that are to be applied towards the cost of future maintenance events. These reserves are calculated based on a performance measure, such as flight hours, and are specifically to be used to reimburse third-party providers that furnish services in connection with maintenance of our leased aircraft. If there are sufficient funds on deposit to pay the invoices submitted, they are paid. However, if amounts on deposit are insufficient to cover the invoices, we must cover the shortfall because, as noted above, we are legally responsible for maintaining the lease aircraft. Under our aircraft lease agreements, if there are excess amounts on deposit at the expiration of the lease, the lessor is entitled to retain any excess amounts. The maintenance reserves paid under our lease agreements do not transfer either the obligation to maintain the aircraft or the cost risk associated with the maintenance activities to the aircraft lessor. In addition, we maintain the right to select any third-party maintenance providers. Therefore, we record these amounts as prepaid maintenance within “Other Assets” on our consolidated balance sheet and then recognize maintenance expense when the underlying maintenance is performed, in accordance with our maintenance accounting policy. Any excess amounts retained by the lessor upon the expiration of the lease, would be recognized as additional aircraft rental expense when it becomes probable that we would not benefit from such excess, mostly at expiration of the lease.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncement

In March 2008, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Statement No. 161, “Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities — an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133” (“SFAS 161”). SFAS 161 requires entities that utilize derivative instruments to provide qualitative disclosures about their objectives and strategies for using such instruments, as well as any details of credit-risk-related contingent features contained within derivatives. SFAS 161 also requires entities to disclose additional information about the amounts and location of derivatives located within the financial statements, how the provisions of SFAS 133 have been applied, and the impact that hedges have on an entity’s financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. SFAS 161 is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after November 15, 2008, with early application encouraged. We do not believe the adoption of SFAS 161 will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In October 2008, the FASB issued Staff Position No. FAS 157-3, “Determining the Fair Value of a Financial Asset When the Market for That Asset is Not Active” (FSP 157-3). FSP 157-3 clarifies the application of SFAS 157, in cases where a market is not active. We have considered the guidance provided by FSP 157-3 in its determination of estimated fair values as of December 31, 2008, and the impact was not material.

In February 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities” (“SFAS 159”). The standard allows entities to voluntarily choose, at specified election dates, to measure many financial assets and financial liabilities (as well as certain non-financial instruments that are similar to financial instruments) at fair value (the “fair value option”). The election is made on an instrument-by-instrument basis and is irrevocable. If the fair value option is elected for an instrument, SFAS 159 specifies that all subsequent changes in fair value for that instrument shall be reported in earnings. SFAS 159 becomes effective for the fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007. We did not elect to adopt SFAS 159.

In December 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 141 (Revised 2007), “Business Combinations” (“SFAS 141(R)”). SFAS 141(R) will change the accounting for business combinations. Under SFAS 141(R), an acquiring entity will be required to recognize all the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a transaction at the acquisition-date fair value with limited exceptions. SFAS 141(R) will change the accounting treatment and disclosure for certain specific items in a business combination. SFAS 141(R) applies prospectively to business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2008. The impact of our adoption of SFAS 141(R) will depend upon nature and terms of business combinations, if any, that we consummate on or after January 1, 2009.

In December 2008, the FASB affirmed Staff Position No. FAS 132(R)-1, “Employers’ Disclosures about Postretirement Benefit Plan Assets” (“FSP FAS 132(R)-1”). FSP FAS 132(R)-1 requires additional disclosures about assets held in an employee’s defined benefit pension or other postretirement plan, primarily related to categories and fair value measurements of plan assets. We do not believe the adoption of the FSP FAS 132(R)-1 will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Gain from Involuntary Conversion

In 2007, we recorded an $8.0 million gain on involuntary conversion of non-monetary assets to monetary assets related to insurance proceeds in excess of aircraft book value.

Special Fleet Charges

In 2007, we decided to terminate early five MD-80 aircraft leases, in connection with the transition of AeroRepública’s fleet to Embraer 190. Penalties paid for early termination are recognized as Special Fleet Charges in the Statement of Income.

Results of Operation

The following table shows each of the line items in our income statements for the periods indicated as a percentage of our total operating revenues for that period:

		Year Ended December 31,
		2006				2007				2008
Operating revenues:
Passenger revenue			93.9	%			94.1	%			94.5	%
Cargo, mail and other			6.1	%			5.9	%			5.5	%
Total			100.0	%			100.0	%			100.0	%
Operating expenses:
Aircraft fuel			(25.6	)%			(25.8	)%			(31.4	)%
Salaries and benefits			(10.7	)%			(11.4	)%			(10.8	)%
Passenger servicing			(7.6	)%			(8.1	)%			(7.7	)%
Commissions			(6.8	)%			(6.4	)%			(5.2	)%
Reservation and sales			(4.5	)%			(4.7	)%			(4.3	)%
Maintenance, materials and repairs			(5.9	)%			(5.0	)%			(5.2	)%
Depreciation			(2.9	)%			(3.4	)%			(3.3	)%
Flight operations			(4.0	)%			(4.3	)%			(4.4	)%
Aircraft rentals			(4.5	)%			(3.8	)%			(3.3	)%
Landing fees and other rentals			(2.8	)%			(2.6	)%			(2.5	)%
Other			(5.3	)%			(5.4	)%			(4.5	)%
Special fleet charges			—				(0.7	)%			—
Gain from involuntary conversion			—				0.8	%			—
Total			(80.5	)%			(80.8	)%			(82.6	)%
Operating income			19.5	%			19.2	%			17.4	%
Non-operating income (expenses):
Interest expense			(3.4	)%			(4.3	)%			(3.3	)%
Interest capitalized			0.2	%			0.3	%			0.1	%
Interest income			0.9	%			1.2	%			0.9	%
Other, net			0.0	%			1.1	%			(4.6	)%
Total			(2.3	)%			(1.8	)%			(6.8	)%
Income/(loss) before income taxes			17.2	%			17.4	%			10.6	%
Income taxes			(1.4	)%			(1.7	)%			(1.4	)%
Net income			15.7	%			15.8	%			9.2	%