Master plan for major Tocumen expansion for tender

 HOTELS, a Metro station and even a Convention center  are on the table  for  a master plan for the use of 325 hectares at Tocumen International Airport.

Officials are preparing a tender for the development of the plan for the land which was purchased in 2012 from the University of Panama for $109 million.

The tender will be developed with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the specifications will be published in the next few days and the  tender will be awarded later this year.

The master plan will include recommendations on what lands should be sold by the airport and which should be kept.

Joseph Fidanque III, the manager of Tocumen, S.A., the government-owned entity that operates the airport, said that the plan will have to incorporate current restrictions on the entity, such as the fact that it can only lease property within the terminals.

Immediate expansion plans at the airport include the addition of a free zone, but one which would not compete with the Colón Free Zone.