Airlines United, Copa and Avianca discuss a joint venture

In an official statement, Avianca confirmed the negotiations about the cooperation. The partnership of the three Star Alliance member airlines would cover the combined networks between Latin America and the United States.

With a joint venture, the airlines could create joint offers and offer a broader network to their customers.

United Airlines is one of the largest airlines in the world with over 700 aircraft in its fleet. The carrier operates flights from its hubs in Chicago, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco and Washington. The airline has already founded joint ventures with the Lufthansa Group and Air Canada for all flights between Europe and North America. With this agreement, United offers customers over 10000 daily flights to over 570 destinations. Additionally, United has founded a joint venture with All Nippon Airlines for all flights between the US and Japan.

Avianca is the national flag carrier of Colombia. Together with several subsidiaries, Avianca offers flights from airports in several Latin American countries, like Bogota, El Salvador and Lima in Peru. The carrier operates a fleet of over 130 aircraft, including A330 and Boeing 787 long-haul aircraft.

Copa Airlines is the flag carrier of Panama. Headquartered at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Copa Airlines operates a fleet of over 85 aircraft.

The discussed joint-venture could go beyond the existing codeshare agreement all three parties have. According to US media, American Airlines, one of United’s major US competitors, is negotiating a similar joint venture with Brazil’s LATAM.