OFF THE CUFF: Pie, in the sky at Colon airport.

A pub with no beer, has something in common with a $58 million Colon airport makeover that was finished in 2013, and has no passengers. Neither will make a profit.

It got a fanfare opening by former president Ricardo Martinelli who boasted it would create thousands of jobs but, like many other projects, including, the unfinished super hospital that bears his name and the Amador convention center, the rhetoric surpassed achievement and instead of planes Colon is left with pie in the sky.
The Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport was supposed to become a busy hub full of both passengers and cargo. But the seven employees who work in two shifts at the airport from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. are usually the only people at the facility says a La Prensa investigative report.
There are five counters without staff and six monitors that are turned off. The parking lot is empty and there is no baggage at the luggage claim. There is even a counter to claim lost luggage and giant flat TV screens for passengers waiting to board.
The runway is as big as the one at Tocumen International Airport. But it is only used by small, private planes that carry less than 10 passengers and only about 16 flights a week land there, less than three per day.
The airport was also supposed to become a major hub for cargo transport, but that too has failed to materialize.
The airport undeniably has potential.. Its rooms are spacious and colorful, and it complies with the requirements of the Organization of International Civil Aviation (ICAO). There are five counters without staff and six monitors that are turned off.
Tocumen S.A., the state-owned entity that operates the airport, has analyzed the possibilities for uses at the airport. Until now, the most likely scenario is to turn it into a facility for servicing aircraft. Two companies have already shown an interest in developing the project.
Tocumen Regional Airports Manager Abelardo Sucre said a solution to the problem is being sought.
In a masterpiece of understatement he said: “It is not a thriving business. It does not generate profits,”
No changes will be made at least until the end of the year. He said a potential solution would be to make an investment in the area around the facility to spur activity, such as the construction of a hotel, but no budget has been allocated for that.
The government is in need of funds for community projects. The $58 million could have been used to build 1,160 homes each housing four people, at $50,000 apiece,; or 11 health centers at $5.3 million ach; or 10 model schools at $5.8 million or provided 174,535 basic food baskets at $332,3 each, based on 2013 prices. Any of them might have been a more worthy project for a man walking in “the shoes of the people”. But he can take comfort in the fact that there is a facility for fellow owners of private jets, even if the giant flat TV screens are turned off and there is no one manning the lost luggage desk