Paramaribo, Suriname – Copa Airlines has formally wrapped up certification for the new shared Common Use Passenger Processing System (CUPPS) developed by Ink Innovation at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (JAPIA), marking a key milestone in the airport’s ongoing digital overhaul of passenger services. The completion of the process now allows the Panamanian carrier to leverage the airport’s centralized check-in and boarding infrastructure, replacing the separate proprietary system the airline operated previously. The new shared platform is being rolled out in a partnership between Ink Innovation and local Surinamese information and communications technology firm Wintel N.V., which is handling on-site certification and technical support for all participating airlines.
Copa Airlines is the third carrier to go live on the system, joining Sky High Dominicana and FlyAllWays, which have already launched full operations on the CUPPS platform. Four additional airlines – GOL, Caribbean Airlines, KLM, and Surinam Airways – are currently in the final stages of the certification process, according to official project updates. The core advantage of the shared system is that it eliminates the need for individual airlines to maintain and rely on dedicated, separate hardware and software systems at their own check-in counters. All certified carriers can access the centralized terminal infrastructure while retaining secure connectivity to their own internal airline operating systems.
Gianni Klaiber, Ground Station Supervisor for Copa Airlines at JAPIA, highlighted the dramatic efficiency gains delivered by the new platform. Prior to the transition, Copa operated its own standalone processing installation at the airport. “With the common-use environment, we now process passengers roughly ten times faster than we could with our old system,” Klaiber explained. The shift to a shared infrastructure is a core strategic priority for Airport Management Ltd. (AML), the operator of Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, which aims to transition every airline serving the airport onto the unified CUPPS platform long-term.
AML director Vijay Chotkan called Copa’s certification the next critical step forward in the airport’s digital transformation. “Every airline operating at Johan Pengel Airport will transition to Ink CUPPS,” Chotkan stated, noting that Copa is one of the largest carriers serving the gateway, making its onboarding a particularly important milestone. Chotkan added that the shared infrastructure is designed to enable faster, more reliable passenger processing even as the airport serves growing numbers of travelers.
For airport operators, the CUPPS model delivers far greater flexibility in allocating check-in counters and boarding facilities, especially during peak travel periods when multiple departures are scheduled close together. By allowing counter spaces to be dynamically reassigned to different airlines based on demand, the system helps maximize the use of existing terminal capacity more efficiently than the outdated model of dedicated, airline-specific counters. With Copa now fully operational on the platform and the remaining major carriers in the certification pipeline, the transition to a unified passenger processing environment at JAPIA is progressing steadily as part of the airport’s broader digitalization push.