Some key facts why Panama's skies are getting
busier and busier!
By Juan Carlos Martinez
Much has been said about the arrival of visitors to Panama, how they have been increasing and spending more, staying longer, etc. The tourism industry is still growing at a steady rate in spite of turbulent economic times. One vital component to this industry is how easy it is to get to Panama and from Panama City to other destinations in the country.
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On the coattail of the tourism boom, the government initiated an ambitious expansion within Tocumen Airport and currently its second phase is underway. Designed to handle 50% more passengers with 12 additional boarding gates. The North Dock is already being built and phase three is already being planned. In 2005 Tocumen Airport received 2.5 million passengers and in 2009 it received 4.8 million passengers. For the year 2015 eight million passengers are projected. Phase three of the expansion will require the construction of a new airport terminal with 20 new boarding gates. The plans will be drawn up next year and construction will begin once the North Dock is operational.
Another large scale project for Tocumen is the building of an airopolis or “airport city”. The government has negotiated to acquire a 300 hectare lot (741 acres) for 109 million dollars. The lot is right next to Tocumen Airport. The plan is to build hotels, a hospital and retail spaces. Mr. Juan Carlos Pino, General Manager of Tocumen S.A., has indicated that there are already investors interested in building the hotels and hospital to be able to cater to medical tourism which is an underperforming segment in Panama's tourism sector. The conceptual design will be developed by the government but the lots itself will be assigned to developers in order to generate another source of income for the airport.
Right along with the expansion of the air terminal to sustain the steady growth of passengers more airlines for more flights are being actively courted. Recently the newspapers announced that new airlines were interested in Panama. In November the German air company Condor will start a weekly flight and in January may increase the frequency to three times a week. In January the Australian airline Qantas will be flying to Cuba for four days and then stopping in Panama for four days and back to Australia. Israeli airline El Al is also interested and investigating setting up feeder flights from its hub in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Finally Eva Air, the Taiwanese cargo airline is also considering restarting its cargo flights to Panama. PanamaQmagazine.com did a recent article about Iberia starting its direct flight in October and that conversations are also ongoing with a Japanese airline.
Another part of the strategy is to feed these tourists arriving at Tocumen to the interior of the country. This may soon happen. COPA and the domestic airline Air Panama have sat down to discuss the possibility of sharing codes so that a ticket may be issued say from New York – Panama – Bocas del Toro. The passenger may book its final destination instead of having to buy the domestic ticket locally. The passengers would land in Tocumen and from Tocumen itself take an Air Panama flight to Bocas del Toro or David, Chiriqui.
This alliance between COPA and Air Panama to fly visitors to Bocas del Toro and David may just be the beginning. Panama is also investing in significantly improving its airport infrastructure. The David City airport is already being remodeled, the airport at Howard now Panama Pacifico is also being improved, Colon airport and Guarare airport are also to be remodeled. There are also plans to build an airport in Penonome, close to all the beach resorts.
All of these are excellent moves to foster development and advance the government's tourism strategy.
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