Copa world’s top long-haul narrowbody operator

Copa has twice as many long-haul seats this year as second-placed United.

Copa is the world’s leading long-haul narrowbody operator this year. 

It has over two million such seats for a 28% share of the 7.1 million expected globally.  However, the year is far from finalised, and worldwide long-haul seats by single-aisle aircraft are down by 53% YOY.

148 airports are expected to see long-haul narrowbody service across 67 countries.  The USA leads with 3.5 in ten seats, followed by Panama, Brazil, Turkey, and Chile. 

B737s, of all models, have 60% of long-haul narrowbody capacity, predictably led by -800s with over 35% of the total.  This is overwhelmingly from Copa.

Read more: Panama’s Hub of the Americas.

B737-900s, meanwhile, have more than a million, primarily from Turkish Airlines and its expansive Africa network. It serves 25 African cities over 4,500 kilometres; Mogadishu, 4,655 kilometres away, has the most seats.

B757s remain key, with more capacity than the A320 family combined, especially from United, Icelandair, and Delta.

Colombia’s Avianca stands out. It has only three routes that qualify – Bogota to Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires – but more seats this year than pre-coronavirus.  It has right-sized by adding more narrowbody capacity, with Rio and Buenos Aires previously mainly by widebodies.  Source of data in figure: OAG Schedules Analyser.

Latin America top region for long-haul narrowbodies; Copa has 15 routes

Latin America is by far the top region for long-haul narrowbodies, with over 2.8 million seats.  It has over three times as much supply as widebody-focused Asia-Pacific.

There are 145 scheduled long-haul narrowbody routes this year, with Latin America featuring seven times in the top-10.  This is the same as pre-coronavirus, although there’s some mix-up market-wise. 

Panama City to Sao Paulo, some 5,076 kilometres apart, is top; it’ll be up to 39-weekly later this year.  It is one of Copa’s 15 long-haul routes.

Anchorage to Chicago has entered the top-10; it’ll have a 21-weekly offering with Alaska (14) and United (seven) this summer.

Elsewhere, Moscow Domodedovo to Chita – a 4,744-kilometre domestic route – and Denpasar to Sydney have both exited the top-10.  Expect Denpasar to reappear when Australia’s borders open properly.

Kuala Lumpur to Sharjah was 11^th this year, with Air Arabia offering a seven-weekly A321neo service from mid-May.  It will be the carrier’s only long-haul narrowbody route. Source of data in figure: OAG Schedules Analyser.