As a gateway to 90 destinations in America and Europe, and soon Asia, Panama International Airport is venturing into the high value air cargo business.
The development of the logistics area at Tocumen International Airport will bring opportunities for infrastructure development in terms of roads, land leveling and construction and fitting of galleys and sheds.
The Panamanian airport administration has hired the British company Pragma Consulting to design the strategy to tender the commercial area of the southern terminal, scheduled for September 2016.
Pragma Consulting company also designed the tender process of the business premises that are currently operating under concessions which will expire in 2017.
The airline VivaColombia may put an end to its flights to the terminal arguing that the increase airport tax of $15 to $32 has affected occupancy levels on their flights.
The airline from Colombia is trying to reach an agreement with the authorities of Tocumen SA in order to maintain operations at the terminal in Howard, but stated that if they are unable to do so, they will suspend flights to the airport and use Tocumen instead, starting from March 2016.
With a feasibility study which could be ready in early 2016, Tocumen SA will decide whether it would be feasible or not to transfer the Marcos Gelabert Airport to installations at Panama Pacifico.
After talk about the possibility of moving the operations at Marcos Gelabert Airport to the Panamá Pacífico Terminal, Tocumen SA has announced that it has hired the company Sociedad Aeropuertos de París (ADP), to carry out a study and determine whether it would be feasible to make the change.
The second terminal under construction will not be enough to meet projected demand by 2020, therefore a third airport expansion is being considered.
The authorities at Tocumen SA have projected that by 2020 the average annual number of passengers who transit through the international airport in Panama City will amount to 20 million and the second terminal, in which they are investing $800 million, will exceed its capacity in 2022.
The administrators of Tocumen airport are preparing tender specifications for the design of the airport city project, in which three international companies may already be interested.
To obtain the financing needed to complete the expansion of the South Terminal, the administrators of Tocumen International Airport plan to issue debt certificates once again.
The delays that have occurred in the work due to changes in the original project design, have prevented the administration from starting the process of raising funds via the concession of premises in the new 'duty free' area, therefore they have announced that they will need to make a new bond issue to complete the financing. It is estimated that the amount will be more than $650 million, carried out between 2013 and 2014.
The administration of the Panama City airport is looking overseas for investors to fund the $300 million needed to complete the construction of the southern terminal.
During the last administration of Tocumen a tender was scheduled for commercial spaces. to fund part of the works in the terminal. While this process is being completed, the manager of Tocumen SA, Joseph Fidanque III, is looking for alternative funding in the US and other markets.
In order to resolve a tie situation between two of the bidders the administration of Panama City airport has ordered the cancelation of the tender and will be holding another one next month.
The consortiums Brillantex and Treoc Tocumen submitted proposals valued at $6.9 million and both met the specifications established in the tender, therefore the evaluation committee had to choose between two options: choose the proponent who is credited as an SME with the Authority of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Ampyme) or direct the proponents to submit a second offer.
Five consortia submitted bids for janitorial services at the airport in Panama City, and most of the bids were below the reference price of $7.7 million.
Participating companies were Triangle Services, which offered $7.3 million, Eulen Panama Services, with $7.4 billion Pro Clean, for $8 million, and Brillantex and Treoc Tocumen both for $6.9 million each.
Authorities at the International Airport in Panama are evaluating raising tariffs for services offered at the terminal in order to cover the cost of the current expansion and future projects.
Between 2009 and 2012 there were only two upward adjustments in rates for airport services, one on the departure tax, and another on charge paid by airlines for each per passenger.
In the first seven months of the year 4,881,985 passengers transited through the international terminal in Panama, almost 10% more than in the same period in 2013.
From a statement issued by Tocumen International Airport:
During the first seven months of 2014, Tocumen International Airport which was recently given an award by the World Travel Awards, recorded an overall rate of 4, 881.985 passengers, compared with 4,454.529 users who used the Panamanian terminal in the same period in 2013, representing an increase of 9.6%, stated a report provided by the Department of Statistics.
The administrators of Panama International Airport have announced that they will be carrying out legal and financial audits of contracts with suppliers and putting out to tender duty free spaces before the end of the year.
The new air terminal administration is reviewing the details of all contracts with private firms providing different services at the airport.
Airport authorities in Panama are preparing a tender for waste management services which will be announced in mid-October.
While the tender process is being prepared, Tocumen airport has contracted for a period of 90 days the company Tecnológicos de Incineración, S.A, which will provide the service of collection and incineration of waste arriving on planes until the new provider is selected after October.
While at least seven call centers have ceased operations in the country, others are being opened as multinational companies move in to install regional headquarters.
The balance, however, is negative. By the end of 2009, there were 1,000 less jobs in the call center industry than in its golden age, 2006.
Most of them depend on U.S. customers, and the economic crisis in the northern country triggered the closure of many, especially the small ones which served one or two customers.