TOCUMEN INTERNATIONAL Airport, touted as the hub of Latin America, is already operating at peak capacity during prime hours and will have reached 118 percent by year end,

The air terminal has 34 primary gates and six other gates. In July, it will handle 48 aircraft at the same time at some point between 4 a.m. and 9 p.m., when it handles the majority of passengers.
The situation is more complicated because flights from Europe operated by KLM, Air France and TAP use wide-body aircraft that need more space. That problem will become even more complicated in November when Lufthansa begins service from Germany.
Tocumen administrators project that the air terminal will operate at 118 percent of its capacity by December reports La Prensa.
Manager Joseph Fidanque III said $75 million will be invested in the expansion of taxiways and parking lots for aircraft to reduce congestion and to allow the use of the remote stations, which are located in the unfinished South Terminal.
He agreed that it is not the most comfortable situation for passengers to use the remote stations, but he said it is the only option until the $800 million expansion is finished in 2017 or 2018.
Fidanque added that there has to be an investment in the maintenance of the facility, which was ignored by previous administrations.
The facility is used by 23,000 passengers daily, arriving and departing on 334 flights.