Getting to Panama by
Air,
Tocumen International Airport Panama
Tocumen is a large facility and center
of flights heading to and from the Caribbean, South America, North America
and all of Central America. Also, one European city (Madrid) is served.
Tocumen is the hub of Panama's international airline, Copa Airlines. A $21
million expansion of the facilities is currently underway to enlarge the
passenger terminal.
Panama has flights to all Central American countries and to
both North and South America; Miami is the principal hub for flights to
Panama. Copa is the national airline. There is a US$20 departure tax on
international flights, payable only in cash.
Travel to Panama
By
Cruise Ship
Cruise
ships dock at Fuerte Amador Marina and passengers go ashore by tender. Here
is a large, duty free shopping center at dockside.
Getting
to Panama By
Land (
Car Rentals
)
Travel from
Costa Rica to Panama,
there
are three land border crossings between Panama and Costa Rica; Paso Canoas,
on the Interamerican Highway, is the most popular, followed by
Guabito-Sixaola near the Caribbean coast. There are buses to the border that
connect with local services on the Costa Rican side.
The
Centennial Bridge
of Panama is only the second major road crossing of the Panama Canal, the
first being the Bridge of the Americas.
(Small service bridges are
built in to the lock structures at Miraflores and Gatún Locks, but these
bridges are only usable when the lock gates are closed, and have limited
capacity.)
The
Centennial Bridge is located 15km (9 miles) north of the Bridge of the
Americas, and crosses the Gaillard Cut close to the Pedro Miguel locks. New
freeway sections, connecting Araijan in the west to Cerro Patacon in the east
via the bridge, significantly alleviate congestion on the Bridge of the
Americas.
