Tocumen saves $27 million as Martinelli era deals uprooted

THE CANCELLATION of suspect contracts and the disappearance of Ricardo Martinelli insiders   cut expenses at Tocumen International Airport by 43.2 percent in 2015 compared to 2014,  a saving of  $27 million.

The decrease was mainly due to the cancellation of contracts.

Cancelled agreements include ones for window cleaning and maintenance of the green areas, which over five years would have represented an expenditure of $39.8 million.

The airport is saving $7 million on the window cleaning contract and the total amount of the contract for the landscaping.

Tocumen’s revenue for 2015 was $181.2 million, $15.1 million more than the previous year.

The facility had projected revenues of $174.6 million.

Manager Joseph Fidanque III said that the income will continue to grow as the facility issued concessions for new stores in the last quarter of the year. Under the previous administration, questions were raised about the concessions issued by the airport, as certain entities were paying much less than market value. That issue has since been resolved, he said.

The airport expects to generate $200 million in revenue in 2016.

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