Led by governor Jorginho Mello, Santa Catarina’s delegation was in Panama last week on an official mission. In a meeting with the network director of the company Copa Airlines, Gabriel Varela, the authorities presented Santa Catarina and asked for the implementation of a direct flight between Florianópolis and Panama City, the capital of the country located in Central America.

The delegation, which also included the participation of the secretaries of Foreign Affairs, Juliano Froehner, and of Ports, Airports and Railways, Beto Martins, made a presentation of Santa Catarina’s economic and social indicators, as well as highlighting the tourist attractions. The idea is to attract the company that serves all of Latin America, as well as Europe, through partnerships, offering a wide variety of destinations to people from Santa Catarina who travel for tourism or business.

“We introduced Santa Catarina and they were delighted. We need to show our state to the world and Panama is strategic, because it connects important regions, so this flight can be an extraordinary gain”, observed governor Jorginho Mello.

According to Varela, the company showed interest and will carry out technical and market demand analyzes to study the feasibility of the new route.

“I give a positive assessment of this meeting. We showed them the potential of Santa Catarina, the projections of what this new route can generate and what we have to offer. And the most important thing is the prospect of making Florianópolis a great center for interconnection with other countries”, reinforced the president of the Legislative Assembly, deputy Mauro De Nadal.

At the end of the meeting, Santa Catarina’s delegation signed a document of intentions with the company. The document provides resources for promotional investments for the intended route.

Deputies Antidio Lunelli and Fabiano da Luz accompany the group. “This flight will generate jobs and income for our state. I’m very optimistic”, highlighted Lunelli . “It was important for Santa Catarina to demonstrate this interest in having a flight that will bring many benefits to the state”, added Fabiano.

About Copa Airlines

Currently, the company serves 32 countries, with flights to 81 destinations. In total, it transports around 16 million passengers a year.

Text and photo: Nathan Neumann/Secom