Authorities looking to recover Panama – Puerto Vallarta flight

The head of the Jalisco Ministry of Tourism, Vanessa Perez Lamas, informed that they have already held talks with the directors of Copa Airlines for the return of the direct flight from Panama-Puerto Vallarta, which was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so there is a possibility that it may return next year.

The state official emphasized that the return of a flight not only depends on the will and demand, but also on the availability of the airlines to place their aircrafts.

Within the period of the pandemic what happened was that there was a shortage of aircraft and what they are doing is that as soon as these arrive they are incorporating them to the routes that they consider priority in terms of connection, but we do not take our finger off the line and they did tell us that there is the possibility of returning the flight, although they have not wanted to commit to us in the period that is going to happen, but I would hope that we could recover it next year.

It was in December 2018, when Copa Airlines started its direct flights between Panama City and Puerto Vallarta’s Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport, with two weekly frequencies. Both this destination and Riviera Nayarit were the second and third most important destinations for Colombians, after Cancun.

During previous editions of the Tianguis Turísticos they have been looking for a way to bring back this flight, which took Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas more than 10 years to achieve; meanwhile, these destinations continue to focus on tourism promotion campaigns.

With reporting by Brenda Beltrán for Tribuna de la Bahía.