The region has 20 international airports, of which 11 are located in Panama and Costa Rica, and the remaining nine are located in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
According to the report "Transportation in Central America: importance in the regional economy", prepared by the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration, Panama is the country in the region that has the broadest airport infrastructure, since it has seven international airports, followed by Costa Rica and Honduras with four air terminals each, El Salvador and Guatemala with two each, and finally Nicaragua with an international terminal.
Starting in August, Avianca plans to start operating new direct routes between the Salvadoran capital and the cities of Boston and Orlando.
The airline reported that both flights will have four frequencies per week and will depart from Monsenor Óscar Arnulfo Romero and Galdámez International Airport. The flight to Orlando will be inaugurated on August 1 and the route to Boston will begin on August 17.
The low-cost airline Wingo has announced that from July it will be increasing the number of flights from Panama to the cities of Cali, Bogota and Medellín.
According to a representatives from the airline,"... from July, flights from Panama to Cali will increase from 2 to 3 frequencies a week, from Panama to Medellín from 4 to 5 and to Bogota [there will be] a daily flight."
The country has strengthened a key factor in the tourism industry, which had suffered a blow when Avianca / Taca stopped operating its regional hub at the Juan Santamaria Airport.
The available seats going to the airport terminal in the main tourist area of Costa Rica, Daniel Oduber International Airport, increased by 57%.
The restrictions currently imposed on Guatemala in terms of air freedoms constitute a limiting factor to the competitiveness of its productive sectors.
EDITORIAL
In a recent webinar entitled "Open Skies Agreement and its Impact on Competitiveness"organized by Agexport, evidence was presented of the negative impact on Guatemala of having ratified only"... three of these freedoms(with the country only allowed to embark and disembark passengers and cargo in the state to which the airline belongs and at points within a reasonably direct route), and the limitations that this presents."
The Turkish airline will fly on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from Istanbul to Bogota, and from there to Panama, and from Panama direct to Istanbul.
Referring to Wednesday, May 4, an article on Critica.com.pa reported that this Wednesday "... the national airline of Turkey based in Istanbul, today inaugurated a route between Istanbul and Panama, making the Central American country its 14th destination within its expansion project in America.
Air France will increase to six the number of flights per week between France and Tocumen International Airport, starting from November 2015.
The growth in demand in Europe, coupled with the success of the agreement between the French airline and the government of Panama to subsidize flights explain part of the airline's decision to raise the number of flights per week it will operate from November 2015 to six.
The country with the best air and maritime connectivity in the region should seize the opportunities offered by a land connection with South America.
In his opinion piece published in Prensa.com, Rommel Troetsch highlights the need to raise the debate to develop the essential connectivity that is needed in the south.
"...The gap now covers an area of only 58 kilometers from the Panamanian side, 53.5 kilometers from the Colombian side and costs about 231 million dollars to build the stretches of road that are missing, according to John Barnes, exhibitor of CADE 2015. This road would allow land access to a population of 47 million in Colombia, and 400 million in South America.
A company founded with Panamanian capital, led by tourism entrepreneurs, has started offering private flights on the isthmus, Mexico, northern South America and the Caribbean.
Fly Executive has started operations in Panama offering private flights with a new fleet of jets with a base of operations at the airport Marcos A. Gelabert, in Albrook.
The Ministry of Tourism in Panama has announced that the Spanish airline has chosen the country to set up its regional headquarters.
From a statement issued by the Tourism Authority of Panama:
The Spanish airline Iberia has chosen Panama as its regional headquarters and increased the number of flights to the country, said the Administrator of the ATP, Jesus Sierra Victoria in Madrid.
Avianca has announced adjustments to their operations involving layoffs of flight crew based in Costa Rica and the flight from San Jose to Mexico now going via San Salvador.
Avianca has announced that it has removed three of the Embraer aircraft used in flights to Costa Rica also clarified that services from San Jose to Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile, all via Bogotá will not be suspended, only the number of flight will be changed.
The company Taxis Aéreos de El Salvador has obtained permission to operate domestic flights from San Salvador to the east of the country, and plans to operate routes to Guatemala and Honduras.
Certification to operate in the country was granted on November 24, 2014, with flights expected to start from this month, going from San Salvador, in the Ilopango airport, to La Union, San Miguel and Santa Rosa de Lima.
The airline of Salvadoran origin VECA Airlines, which announced in November promotions for their first flights in the region, is not yet operating at 100%.
The airline Vuelos Económicos Centroamericanos (VECA) has not yet started to operate the routes announced in November and has not taken steps to expand its flights to destinations in the United States.
With the entry of two competitors focusing on the business of low-cost fares, the airline market in Central America is preparing for a potential price war.
Panama has become the starting point for tourists looking to travel to the rest of Central America, where new airlines want to capitalize on a market which so far has been driven Copa Airlines and Avianca.
Copa Airlines is venturing into the local market flying a twice daily route between Tocumen and David with rates $100 cheaper than those of Air Panama, which is being threatened by the international airline.
51% of local air traffic is represented by the internal route between Panama and David, which until now was serviced only by the airline Air Panama, but soon the business will be shared with Copa Airlines, which requested authorization to operate the route with two daily flights.