Copa Airlines Boeing 737-800 Seat Selection Guide (2026)

Two of Copa's three 737-800 cabins show 144 seats. They are not the same aircraft.

Copa flies the 737-800 in three separate cabins. All three are 16 business seats in a 2-2 recliner at rows 1 to 4, then 3-3 economy from row 5 to row 34, with 24 EconomyExtra seats at rows 5 to 8. On a booking page they are close to indistinguishable, and two of them carry exactly the same economy seat count.

That seat count is the wrong thing to look at. One of the 144-seat cabins runs 32 inches of standard economy pitch — comfortably the roomiest 737-800 Copa flies, and roomier than most narrowbodies in the Americas. The other 144-seat cabin runs 30 inches, carries shared overhead screens instead of seatback displays, and has a seat inside its paid EconomyExtra cabin with no window at all. The 166-seat cabin also runs 30 inches, and it is the one you are most likely to be on.

How to tell which version you're on — count the rows, not the seats

All three cabins skip the row numbers 12 to 16 entirely. Economy runs to row 10 or 11, then jumps straight to row 17. That gap is normal and identical everywhere, so it tells you nothing. What does tell you is which rows exist on either side of it.

There is a second confirmation if you want one. On the 32-inch cabin the two rows with perfectly aligned windows are 28 and 30. On both 30-inch cabins they are 27, 29 and 31. The extra row shifts every window seat behind it out of alignment.

The three cabins side by side

Which is best? For economy, the 144-seat refreshed jet, and it is not close — 32 inches with seatback screens beats everything else Copa puts on the type. For business, the pre-refresh jet, which carries 49 inches of pitch against 38 on the refreshed cabins. That is the inversion worth knowing: the two oldest aircraft in the sub-fleet have the worst economy and the best business class.

Business — 16 seats, rows 1 to 4, 2-2

Copa's 737-800 business class is a recliner, not a flat bed — that is the MAX 9, and it is a genuinely different product. Here you get 16 seats in a 2-2 across four rows, lettered A and B on the left, E and F on the right. B and E are the aisle seats; A and F are windows and you step past your neighbour to get out. Copa's spec is 38 inches of pitch on the refreshed cabins and 49 inches on the pre-refresh pair.

The picks are 1A, 1E and 1F. Row 1 leads the cabin with open space ahead at the bulkhead, and those three seats get the benefit cleanly. 1B is the exception — the bulkhead ahead of it is 85% solid, so the gap on its right side is too small to be worth anything. You get the row-1 price and most of a wall. On the pre-refresh jet this does not apply and all four row-1 seats are clean.

Behind row 1 there is nothing to separate rows 2, 3 and 4. No lavatory backs onto the business cabin on any of the three variants, which is unusual for a narrowbody and worth noting positively. If row 1 is gone, take whichever of 2, 3 or 4 has the aisle seat you want.

EconomyExtra — rows 5 to 8, and row 5 is the one to skip

All three cabins sell 24 EconomyExtra seats at rows 5 to 8, at 33 to 34 inches of pitch. On the 32-inch aircraft that is a two-inch upgrade over standard economy. On the two 30-inch aircraft it is closer to four. Either way, three of the four rows are worth the money and one is not.

Row 6 is the EconomyExtra row to book. On the 32-inch and 166-seat cabins all six seats are clean and well rated, with properly aligned windows at 6A and 6F. On the pre-refresh jet, 6A and 6F sit behind their windows and the four centre seats 6B to 6E are the clean picks instead.

Rows 7 and 8 are fine on the refreshed cabins, with the caveat that 7A, 7F and 8A sit behind their windows on the 144-seat jet, and 7A and 7F do the same on the 166-seat jet.

The exit rows — 17 and 18 both look identical, and only one of them reclines

Rows 17 and 18 are the two overwing exit rows on all three cabins. Both carry about 38 inches of pitch, which is more than EconomyExtra and roughly what business class gets on the refreshed jets. They are usually sold at the same extra-legroom price.

17A, 17B, 17E and 17F do not fully recline. The exit path behind them has to stay clear, so the seat back is pinned. 17C and 17D do recline — the aisle pair sits clear of that path — and so does every seat in row 18.

One more thing about that gap in the numbering. Because rows 12 to 16 do not exist, the row immediately in front of the exit is row 11 on the refreshed cabins and row 10 on the pre-refresh jet — and that row cannot fully recline either, in its window and middle seats, for the same reason. On the 32-inch aircraft rows 9, 10 and 11 are also the one part of the cabin cut back to 30 inches, so they are simultaneously the tightest rows on the aircraft and partly non-reclining. They look like prime forward-cabin seats on a map. They are not.

Standard economy — where the good windows are

Behind the exit rows the cabin settles into uninterrupted 3-3 at the variant's standard pitch. The differences that remain are all about window alignment.

On the 32-inch jet, take 28A, 28F, 30A or 30F — the four seats in the rear cabin with perfectly aligned windows. 31A and 31F sit behind theirs.

On the 166-seat and pre-refresh jets, take 27A, 27F, 29A, 29F, 31A or 31F. Avoid 19A, 19F, 24A, 24F, 26A and 26F, all of which sit behind their windows.

If you are travelling as a pair and want to be left alone, the D and F seats of any mid-cabin row work: take D and F and leave E empty, and on a lightly loaded flight nobody is assigned into the middle.

The back of the aircraft

Rows 33 and 34 are the rows to avoid outright. Every seat in both sits immediately against the rear lavatories — noise, odours, and a queue standing beside you for the whole cruise. 34B, 34C, 34D and 34E add the galley behind them, with the light and the noise of meal service. Both rows are rated avoid across all three cabins.

Row 32 is the softer version and is worth avoiding if you have a choice. It catches the lavatory queue without being right against the door.

Quick-pick summary

Entertainment, power and WiFi

The two refreshed cabins have individual seatback screens throughout. The pre-refresh pair does not — entertainment is shared overhead displays, the old drop-down kind, with whatever is playing playing for everybody. If seatback video matters to you, that is a second reason to run the row-11 test before you book.

All three carry Starlink, free for ConnectMiles members. Copa's own note is that the rollout is still in progress and not every aircraft has it yet, so treat it as likely rather than guaranteed.

Frequently asked questions

How do I tell which Copa 737-800 I'm on before I fly?

Open the seat map and look for two rows. If there is no row 11 — economy runs 5 to 10 and then jumps to 17 — you are on the pre-refresh jet, one of only two. If row 11 exists, check for row 26: if the map goes 25 straight to 27, you are on the 32-inch refreshed cabin, which is the best of the three in economy. If both row 11 and row 26 are there, you are on the 166-seat jet, which is by far the most common.

Is Copa's 737-800 business class lie-flat?

No. The 737-800 has a 2-2 recliner across four rows — 38 inches of pitch on the refreshed cabins, 49 on the pre-refresh pair. The fully flat bed is on the 737 MAX 9, which is a different aircraft with a different cabin.

Is EconomyExtra worth paying for?

In rows 6, 7 and 8, yes — 33 to 34 inches against a 30-inch standard cabin is a real difference, and against the 32-inch cabin it is still an improvement. Row 5 is the exception: same fee, a wall 16 inches ahead of you, and no underseat storage for the whole flight.

Which exit row should I pick?

Row 18. Rows 17 and 18 both have about 38 inches, but 17A, 17B, 17E and 17F cannot fully recline because the exit path behind them must stay clear. Row 18 reclines throughout, and 17C and 17D are the only two seats in row 17 that do.

Are there any seats with no window?

One, and only on the two pre-refresh aircraft: 7A, which is inside the paid EconomyExtra cabin. On the same row, 7F has one of the best-aligned windows on the aircraft. The refreshed cabins have no windowless seats at all.

Which rows should I avoid on any version?

Rows 33 and 34, which sit immediately against the rear lavatories with a queue beside you, and row 5, which charges an EconomyExtra fee for a cramped bulkhead with no underseat storage. Row 32 is worth avoiding if you have a choice, and the row directly in front of the exit — 11 on the refreshed cabins, 10 on the pre-refresh jet — has restricted recline in its window and middle seats.