Copa Airlines to buy Boeing 737s in $6.6 billion deal

[April 10, 2015]  (Reuters) - Panama-based Copa Airlines  will buy 61 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 jets in a deal worth $6.6 billion, the airline announced on Friday.

Copa Airlines said in a statement it will use the airplanes to replace existing airplanes and support the carrier’s plans for strategic growth.

The deal, announced in Panama during the Summit of the Americas, is largest commercial transaction ever between a Panamanian and a U.S.-based company, the airline said.

Copa said it will be the first airline in the region to operate the 737 MAX 9 on deep South American routes.

(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington; Editing by Eric Walsh)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.