News

In the first quarter of 2023, more than 4.2 million passengers traveled through Tocumen International Airport, a 24% increase from a year earlier.

The data also shows the positive trend is continuing. In March, the airport authority reported 1.47 million travelers through Tocumen, a 220,000 increase from March 2022.

The numbers provide an interesting bellwether for economic activity and tourism. Tocumen is the Hub of the Americas and many travelers are simply passing through, but increased arrivals also reflect increased tourism and Panama real estate business activity. Passenger flow also means more exposure for Panama.

In these reports, it’s always interesting to note the countries of origin of the travelers. In the first quarter, 44% of the traffic was from South America; 28% from North America, with 28%; and 11% from the Caribbean and Central America. Europe, a growing source of property buyers and tenants, provided 6% of passengers.

As of March, Tocumen had 83 direct routes through 17 commercial airlines with flights to all the top destinations in the Americas and Europe.

The latest report also provides another benchmark that Panama is returning to pre-COVID levels.

Tocumen is “showing a robust competitiveness in relation to other airports in the region,” said Raffoul Arab, general manager of Aitsa, the agency that runs the airport. “If the economic, health, and social conditions are maintained, we can project an operating performance superior to 2019.”