GLOBAL SPOTTING REPORTS
PANAMA
Panama Tocumen – Feb 2017
LANDSIDE
Not sure from the terminal area. If you have a car there is a road which runs parallel to one of the runways leading to the cargo and hanger areas. Most of these cant be seen from Airside. It may be possible to find a suitable spot to park up along here to watch movements on this runway.
AIRSIDE
Lots of windows so everything can be seen. Due to the layout of the runways it’s a little difficult to watch both at once. The upstairs food court provided a good spot to watch movements on the runway in front of the terminal. It was possible to stay airside on arrival. No problem if you have bags to collect. Mine was waiting for me at the baggage desk four hours later.
HOTELS
Express Inn at the airport offers some views. Reports suggest that departures could be seen from some rooms but SBS was required and some aircraft didn't plot. From outside the hotel aircraft can be read off on departure.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Copa Panama dominate and most of the fleet should be seen in a day. This includes some of the Aerorepublic Colombia fleet who operate in Copa cls. If your lucky you may see the Government aircraft which operate out of here. Very little else.
Check timetables, The airport operates in waves. Copa’s will arrive for an hour or so before they all then depart, and then a new set of Copas arrive. Its also worthwhile hiring a car to visit the domestic airport downtown – see report.
There are some stored aircraft near the hangers including:
XB-KXE DC9
HP-1261PVI B727
HP-1585PVI B727
HP-1653CTW B727
N854AA B727
Panama Albrook – Feb 2017
LANDSIDE
Panama’s Domestic airport located downtown and a 30-40 minute drive from Tocumen. There is a small terminal which has views of a few aircraft but the airfield is much larger with lots of hangers and general aviation.
A car would be beneficial otherwise you will do a lot of walking. I hired a car from Tocumen. It was fairly cheap and probably not much more than paying for public transportation.
From the terminal side you can walk past several hangers and get a few aircraft from here. You really need to get to the other side of the airport though. The road system is a little complicated. There is a main road running along the perimeter on the other side parallel to the runway. You can see most stuff from here including into the hangers if they are open. There is a shopping mall here and you can park up to watch the movements.
AIRSIDE
HOTELS
WHAT TO EXPECT
Air Panama are pretty much the only operator. They also had a couple of F27’s stored. A good number of general aviation make up the numbers. An interesting little airport and well worth a visit if you’re here
