Japanese bank wins canal consultancy project

It seems that everything is booming in Panama these days, from the planned expansion of the Panama Canal, the extension of the main highway from Tocumen International Airport across Panama City, to the construction of hospitals and roads across the country. Now, the spotlight has turned to the former World War II US Air Force Base, Enrique Malek Airport, in David, the capital of the Chiriqui province and gateway to the growing Boquete highlands area. Although this regional facility was always intended to be an international airport, it wasn’t until 1998 that the airport was upgraded to accommodate a limited number of international arrivals, primarily from Costa Rica.

Today, four domestic airlines serve the David airport (Air Panama, Aeroperlas, Aviatur, Mapiex). However, the current facilities in David are proving inadequate to handle the tremendous growth in passenger traffic the airport has experienced over the past few years. On January 10th, 2007 Gregorio Montecer, Engineer and Advisor to the Director of the Civil Aeronautical Authority, released the results of a 3 year study and unveiled a master plan for a $10 million expansion of the David airport to be completed in phases over the next 8 years. The first phase, with an initial investment of $2 million over the next 2 years, is already under construction.

During this phase, the car rental check-in counters will be relocated to the terminal parking areas, an upgraded air navigational system will be installed, a new fire station will be built, a perimeter fence completed and the current runway will be expanded from 2,100 meters (6,890 feet) to 2,250 meters (7,380 feet). This phase of construction also includes the installation of additional fuel storage capacity. Upon completion, these upgrades will allow the David airport to accommodate commercial jets as large as a Boeing 737.

Future phases of the project call for the expansion and modernization of the main airport terminal to accommodate larger numbers flight arrivals and departures. Current Panama law allows the David Airport to be operated under a private concession and compete with other airports in the region like Liberia, Costa Rica, where charter and direct flights come from the United States and Europe. When questioned, Mr. Montecer indicated that “there are two international airlines interested in flying directly to David but require that the airport have the capacity to handle a minimum of 100 passengers per flight”.

Last year, the David airport processed over 100,000 passengers or nearly 40% of Panama’s total domestic passenger air traffic. David runway extension y airport in 2015