Tocumen International Airport (PTY), which serves Panama City, reported 1.307.921 passengers in June, 556.702 more than in the same month of 2021. The monthly number of travelers exceeded one million in each of the first six months of 2022. The figures reflect the sustained trend of traffic recovery at the airport, one of the leading hubs throughout the Americas.
Compared to June of the previous year, 174% more passengers transited through the airport. The figures represent a 3% decrease from what was reported in June 2019, so a return to pre-pandemic traffic volumes can be expected in the near future. In the first half of 2022, the «Hub of the Americas» mobilized 7.304.205 million passengers.
Raffoul Arab, the airport’s General Manager, pointed out that «the first half of this year was favorable in terms of overall operations». According to the executive, the result was mainly due to «the return of more airlines, the increase in frequencies, the increase in the occupancy factor, the recovery of routes and the confidence of passengers in international travel».
Markets
During June, international routes served from Tocumen increased. The airport maintained direct connections to 82 destinations, operated by 18 airlines. Of the total number of passengers that transited through Tocumen, 73% used it as a transit point. In addition, 11.165 aircraft operations were recorded.
The main market for flights to and from the airport was South America, which accounted for 45% of international passengers. North America accounted for 29%, the Caribbean for 11%, Central America for 10% and Europe for 5%.
Domestic operations transported 16.801 passengers in 1.965 take-offs and landings. On the other hand, the cargo terminal moved 19.832 tons of goods. Compared to the previous year, the figure represents an increase of 33%. In relation to the same month of 2019, the increase reached 47%. In total, 118.996 tons of cargo were transported from the terminal during the first half of this year.
Airlines
Copa Airlines maintained its usual level of participation in the total number of operations. It represented 85% of the market and transported 1.115.768 passengers in June. Colombian carriers Wingo and Avianca, as well as U.S. carriers United, Delta and American, and European airlines KLM and Turkish Airlines, maintained a share of the total market of 1% or more.
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