Revenue at Tocumen booms as cozy deals replaced

REVENUE at Tocumen International airport is booming with the ending of the cozy no-bid concessions during the Ricardo Martinelli era. In the past year, Tocumen, S.A., has awarded 11 concessions in the terminal at Tocumen International Airport, and has another 13 pending.

Airport manager Joseph Fidanque III has reported that revenue from these concessions is expected to be much greater than what was received under the administration of President Ricardo Martinelli, when the majority of these spaces were given without being competitive bids and far below their market value. Some of these concessions also allowed the sale of products that other outlets had paid for the exclusive right to sell.
The new administration of the airport has cancelled 42 of those concessions.
It has received $10.5 million in revenues from the awarding of the first 11 concessions, and Fidanque indicated that significantly more revenue will be received from the 13 pending concessions, as well as the remainder of the concessions when they are awarded.
“By 2016 our income (from concessions) will double if everything runs as we are projecting it,said. Fidanque.
The airport needed to improve its finances so that it could issue a $650 million bond to pay for the expansion of the facility, cancel other debts and improve the current infrastructure.