TOCUMEN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

'Tocumen International Airport' (Spanish: ''Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen'') or also known as 'Omar Torrijos Herrera International Airport' is an international airport located 15 miles (24 km) from Panamá City, Panamá, in Tocumen, Panama. In 2006, it underwent a major expansion and renovation program in order to modernize and improve its facilities. The airport is Central America's most modern airport, according to the FAA, along Juan Santamaria International Airport and Comalapa International Airport.

Contents

History

Air traffic

Airlines and destinations

Expansion

Passenger terminal expansion

Equipment

Cargo terminal renovation

External links

History

The first Tocumen International Airport was inaugurated on June 1, 1947, by then president Enrique A. Jiménez, and it started operations without construction being finished. The main administration and terminal building was inaugurated 7 years later.
The former airport, used today as a cargo terminal, was built in an area of 7.2 square kilometres and is 126 ft (38 m) above sea level.
Given the history of Panama as a transit country because of its geographical location, the original terminal became too small for the demand of flights. This led to plans to an expansion of this terminal, which were never carried out. Instead, a new terminal was planned. Construction began in 1971. The Tocumen River was diverted from its original course for the construction of the new terminal.
The new terminal, also named Tocumen International Airport, was inaugurated on August 15, 1978. The inaugural flight was on September 5 that same year.
The name of the airport was briefly changed during the 1980s to Omar Torrijos International Airport after the death of Panama's leader Omar Torrijos, but the name reverted back to Tocumen International Airport following the overthrow of Manuel Noriega as a result of the 1989 U.S. invasion.
The Tocumen International Airport is among the few in the region with two runways for landing, since the former terminal's runway is used permanently for cargo planes and private flights or it can be used as a backup for the main runway in moments of increased traffic.
Until May 31, 2003 the Airport's administration was under the Civilian Aeronautics Direction (Today the Civilian Aeronautics Authority). Since June 1, 2003 a new administrative organization allowed the creation of a state-owned company, "Tocumen S.A.", that operates the Airport.

Air traffic

Tocumen is a large facility and center of flights heading to and from The Caribbean, South America, North America and Central America. Also, one European city (Madrid) is served.
Tocumen International Airport is also the hub of Copa Airlines.
In 2007 it is expected that there will be more than 3.7 million passengers travelling through Panama's Tocumen International Airport.

Year	Passengers	% Increase	Cargo	% Increase	Movements
2003	2,145,489	11,5%	-	-	43,681
2004	2,398,443	11,7%	83,684	-	45,703
2005	2,756,948	15%	103,132	19,6%	47,783
2006	3,215,423	16,6%	82,186	-20,3%	53,853
2007	3,750,000 (expected)	17%	-	-	-

Reference

★ Tocumen International Airport Website

★ Tocumen Airport Report 2006 Website

Airlines and destinations

★ AeroRepublica (Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, Medellín-Córdova)

★ Air Madrid (Madrid)

★ Air Transat (Montreal, Toronto-Pearson)

★ Aires (Barranquilla, Cartagena, Pereira)

★ American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth [seasonal; begins December 13], Miami)

★ Avianca (Bogotá, Medellín-Córdova)

★ Bahamasair (Nassau) [Seasonal]

★ Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)

★ Copa Airlines (Barranquilla, Bogotá, Buenos Aires-Ezeiza, Cali, Cordoba, Cancún, Caracas, Cartagena, Guatemala City, Guadalajara, Guayaquil, Havana, Kingston, Lima, Los Angeles, Managua, Manaus, Maracaibo, Medellín-Córdova, Mexico City, Miami, Montevideo, New York-JFK, Orlando, Port-au-Prince, Punta Cana, Quito, Rio de Janeiro-Galeão, San Andrés Island, San José (CR), San Juan, San Pedro Sula, San Salvador, Santiago de Chile, Santiago de los Caballeros, Santo Domingo, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Tegucigalpa, Washington-Dulles)

★ Cubana de Aviación (Havana)

★ Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, New York-JFK [begins December 13])

★ Iberia (Guatemala City, Madrid)

★ Mexicana (Mexico City)

★ Sunwing Airlines (Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto-Pearson)

★ TACA (San Jose (CR))

Expansion

There were 3 projects taking place until last year for the expansion and modernization of the Airport:

Passenger terminal expansion

The main Passenger Terminal was expanded 20,830 square meters and costed approximately US$ 21 million. It allowed the creation of new boarding spots to allow more flights to and from Panama, and also the growth of the commercial areas and internal circulation areas.
The administration acquired 21 new boarding bridges that replaced the older 14. this also also includes the addition of 6 remote positions, and this allowed Tocumen Airport to have 27 boarding spots. The new installations were opened in 2006.

Equipment

Another modernization project includes new equipment to give service and support to the areas of the Airport.
This includes the new boarding bridges as mentioned before and also new elevators, new luggage administration systems, a new flight information system and the replacement of the air conditioners.

Cargo terminal renovation

The remodeling of the main building of the old Tocumen International Airport, built in 1947, used today as a cargo terminal, is another project for the modernization of the Airport.
This includes the redesign of the central building and the construction of new buildings for the cargo companies, among other improvements.

External links

★

★ Tocumen International Airport Website

★ Tocumen Airport aerial photo from Google Maps

★ Tocumen Intl. on Virtual Aviation Info