Tocumen International Airport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) |
| Tocumen International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| IATA: PTY – ICAO: MPTO – FAA: PTY | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public / Private | ||
| Operator | Tocumen S.A. | ||
| Serves | Panama City | ||
| Location | Tocumen, Panama | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 135 ft / 41 m | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 03R/21L | 10,006 | 3,050 | Concrete |
| 03L/21R | 8,800 | 2,682 | Asphalt |
Tocumen International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen) (IATA: PTY, ICAO: MPTO) is an international airport located 15 miles (24 km) from Panamá City, Panamá. In 2006, it underwent a major expansion and renovation program in order to modernize and improve its facilities. It is currently the only airport in Panama with two runways for use and is also the largest airport in the country.
Contents |
[edit] History
The first Tocumen International Airport was inaugurated on June 1, 1947, by then president Enrique A. Jiménez. 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.[citation needed]
Tocumen International Airport has two runways for landing, since the former terminal's runway 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.
[edit] 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, the twoEuropean cities of Madrid and Amsterdam are served.
Tocumen International Airport is also the hub of Copa Airlines.
| Year | Passengers | % Increase | Cargo | % Increase | Movements | % Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 2,145,489 | 11,5% | - | - | 43,681 | - |
| 2004 | 2,398,443 | 11,7% | 83,684 | - | 45,703 | 4,6% |
| 2005 | 2,756,948 | 15% | 103,132 | 19,6% | 47,783 | 4,6% |
| 2006 | 3,215,423 | 16,6% | 82,186 | -20,3% | 53,853 | 12,7% |
| 2007 | 3,805,312 | 18.3% | 82,463 | 0.3% | 61,400 | 14.0% |
| 2008 | 4,452,000 (estimated) | 17% | - | - | - | - |
Reference
- Tocumen International Airport Website
- Tocumen Airport Report 2006 Website
- Tocumen Airport Report 2007 Website
[edit] Airlines and destinations
[edit] Concourse A
- Air Transat (Montreal, Toronto-Pearson)
- Aires (Barranquilla, Cartagena, Pereira)
- American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami)
- Avianca (Bogotá)
- Delta Air Lines (Atlanta, New York-JFK)
- TACA (San Jose (CR), San Salvador)
- Sunwing Airlines (Montreal, Toronto-Pearson)
[edit] Concourse B
- AeroRepública (Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Medellín)
- 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, Port of Spain, 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)
[edit] Central Terminal
- Copa Airlines (See concourse B)
- Iberia (Guatemala City, Madrid)
- KLM (Amsterdam)
- Mexicana (Mexico City)
- Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale)
[edit] Expansion
There were 3 projects taking place until last year for the expansion and modernization of the airport:
[edit] Passenger terminal expansion
The main passenger terminal was expanded 20,830 square meters and cost 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 includes the addition of 6 remote positions, this allowed Tocumen Airport to have 27 boarding spots. The new installations were opened in 2006.
[edit] 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.
