Panama City's Tocumen International Airport is the main international airport serving the capital of Panama, Panama City. The airport was established in 1947 and serves as a major hub for flights to and from the Caribbean, South America, North America and Central America. The airport is the base of operations of Copa Airlines and is a regional hub to and from the Caribbean, South, North and Central America, and also has routes to some European cities, as well as cargo flights to Qatar, a country in Asia. Until May 31, 2003, Tocumen International Airport was managed by the Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (which today is known as Civil Aeronautics Authority).
Tocumen International Airport is one of the few airports in the region that has two runways capable of servicing the largest commercial aircraft currently operating. The old airport building, currently used as a cargo terminal, was built on an area of 720 ha (1,800 acres) and was 126 feet (38 m) above sea level. This included the addition of 6 remote positions, allowing Tocumen Airport to have a total of 28 boarding gates. The next step of the modernization project was the purchase of new equipment to provide service and support to the airport's common areas.
These circumstances forced the aeronautical authorities of the time to consider expanding the airport. This website is an informational guide and is not sponsored, endorsed, associated or affiliated with the Official Administrative Authority of Tocumen International Airport. Tocumen Royal Saloon, The Panama Lounge of Global Lounge Network and Copa Club, are the airport's VIP lounges, located in Terminal 1.The MiBus is the bus service that transports tourists and passengers from the airport to the city and vice versa. The renovation of the old Tocumen International Airport (originally built in 194 to be used only as a cargo terminal) was the last step in the modernization project of Tocumen International Airport.
The name of the airport was changed in 1981 by the military government to Omar Torrijos International Airport, in honor of the Panamanian leader who died on July 31, 1981, at the age of 52, in a plane crash in Cerro Marta, Coclesito, in very poor conditions. It is also the busiest airport in Central America, with flights from Europe, North America and the entire region. The new facilities included platforms, taxiways and a new road connecting the cargo terminal and the airport's administrative building. New boarding gates were built to allow more flights to and from Panama and to facilitate the growth of commercial and domestic traffic areas.
It included the construction of a new terminal, hundreds of parking spaces, the diversion of the Tocumen River and four new direct access lanes to the airport.
