SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
6-K
Report
of Foreign Issuer
Pursuant
to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Report
on Form 6-K dated for the month of
January, 2010
Copa
Holdings, S.A.
(Translation
of Registrant's Name Into English)
Boulevard
Costa del Este, Avenida Principal y Avenida de la Rotonda
Urbanización
Costa del Este
Parque
Lefevre
Panama
City, Panama
(Address
of principal executive offices)
(Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)
Form 20-F
x
Form 40-F ¨
(Indicate
by check whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this
Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to
Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)
Yes ¨
No x
(If “Yes”
is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b);82- )
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PRESS
RELEASE
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CONTACT:
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Joseph
Putaturo – Panamá
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Director-Investor
Relations
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(507)
304-2677
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COPA
HOLDINGS ANNOUNCES 6.6% TRAFFIC GROWTH FOR DECEMBER 2009
Full
year consolidated traffic growth comes in at 10.1%
Panama, January 11, 2010 - Copa Holdings, S.A.
(NYSE:
CPA), and its Copa Airlines and Aero Republica operating subsidiaries,
today
released preliminary passenger traffic statistics for December
and full year
2009:
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Copa
Holdings
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December
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Change
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Full
Year
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Change
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||||||||||||||||||||
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(Consolidated)
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2009
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2008
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(%)
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2009
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2008
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(%)
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ASM (mm) (1)
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873.2 | 848.4 | 2.9 | % | 9,910.7 | 8,844.6 | 12.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||
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RPM (mm) (2)
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671.3 | 629.6 | 6.6 | % | 7,396.6 | 6,716.8 | 10.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||
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Load Factor (3)
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76.9 | % | 74.2 | % |
2.7
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p.p. | 74.6 | % | 75.9 | % |
-1.3
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p.p. | ||||||||||||
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Copa
Airlines Segment
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ASM (mm) (1)
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726.3 | 705 | 3.0 | % | 8,319.0 | 7,341.9 | 13.3 | % | ||||||||||||||||
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RPM (mm) (2)
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561.4 | 530.1 | 5.9 | % | 6,322.6 | 5,788.9 | 9.2 | % | ||||||||||||||||
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Load
Factor (3)
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77.3 | % | 75.2 | % |
2.1
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p.p. | 76.0 | % | 78.8 | % |
-2.8
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p.p. | ||||||||||||
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Aero
Republica Segment
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ASM (mm) (l)
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147 | 143.4 | 2.5 | % | 1,591.7 | 1,502.7 | 5.9 | % | ||||||||||||||||
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RPM (mm) (2)
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109.9 | 99.5 | 10.5 | % | 1,074.0 | 927.9 | 15.7 | % | ||||||||||||||||
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Load
Factor (3)
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74.8 | % | 69.4 | % |
5.4
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p.p. | 67.5 | % | 61.7 | % |
5.7
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p.p. | ||||||||||||
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1.
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Available
seat miles - represents the aircraft seating capacitymultiplied
by the number of miles the seats are
flown
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2.
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Revenue
passenger miles - represents the numbers of miles flown byrevenue
passengers
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3.
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Load
factor - represents the percentage of aircraft seating
capacitythat
is actually utilized
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For the
month of December 2009, Copa Holdings' system-wide passenger traffic (RPM)
increased 6.6% while capacity (ASM) increased 2.9%. System load factor for
December 2009 was 76.9%, a 2.7 percentage point increase when compared to
December 2008.
Copa
Airlines passenger traffic (RPM) for December 2009 increased 5.9%, while
capacity (ASM) increased 3.0%. This resulted in a load factor of 77.3%, a 2.1
percentage point increase when compared to December 2008.
Aero
Republica passenger traffic (RPM) for December 2009 increased 10.5%, while
capacity (ASM) increased 2.5%. Load factor for the month reached 74.8%, a 5.4
percentage point increase when compared to December 2008.
For full
year 2009, Copa Holdings passenger traffic (RPM) increased 10.1%, while capacity
(ASM) increased 12.1%. As a result, full year consolidated load factor came in
at 74.6%, a 1.3 percentage point decrease when compared to the same period in
2008.
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Copa
Holdings CEO Pedro Heilbron said, "We are very pleased with our traffic results
for December, having grown RPMs by 6.6% in spite of capacity increasing by only
2.9%. Furthermore, we are very pleased to have achieved double digit growth for
2009 despite weaker regional economies and the H1N1 flu crisis which affected us
earlier in the year. This truly demonstrates the resiliency and growth potential
of our business model."
Copa
Holdings, through its Copa Airlines and Aero Republica operating subsidiaries,
is a leading Latin American provider of passenger and cargo service. Copa
Airlines currently offers approximately 144 daily scheduled flights to 45
destinations in 24 countries in North, Central and South America and the
Caribbean. In addition, Copa Airlines provides passengers with access to flights
to more than 120 other international destinations through code share agreements
with Continental Airlines and other airlines. Aero Republica provides service to
12 cities in Colombia as well as international connectivity with Copa Airlines'
Hub of the Americas through flights from Barranquilla, Bogota, Bucaramanga,
Cali, Cartagena, Medellin and Pereira. Additionally, Aero Republica has
international flights to Caracas, Venezuela and Quito,
Ecuador.
CPA-G
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto
duly authorized.
| Copa Holdings, S.A. | ||
| (Registrant) | ||
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Date:
01/11/2010
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By:
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/s/ Victor
Vial
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Name:
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Victor
Vial
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Title:
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CFO
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