United Airlines will fly nonstop between Denver International Airport and Panama City, officials announced Wednesday.

Denver leaders have long had their sights set on the Central American city for a nonstop flight, seeing it as a gateway to destinations across Latin America.

The service will begin Dec. 3, subject to government approval. Service will be offered daily November through August and five times weekly in September and October.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, DIA manager Kim Day and United officials announced the new destination at a news conference Wednesday on the steps of the City & County Building.

Hickenlooper visited Panama City last year to promote commerce between the two cities. Wednesday, he said the city will be an important hub for international commerce, especially when the expansion of the Panama Canal is finished.

“It will be a major source of commerce, and it’s incredibly important for Denver to be connected there,” Hickenlooper said.

The Panama Canal serves as an important trade route connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, but its relevance to the global oil trade diminished over the years because of changing trade patterns and the fact that many modern tankers are too large to travel through it, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

United’s new flights will connect at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport to various other points in Central and South America on United and its strategic partner, Copa Airlines.

“Following the success of our Denver-Tokyo flight, our new service to Panama City will link our Denver business and leisure travelers to the business and finance capital of Central America and open the door to other new, international destinations through our partner airlines,” said Steve Jaquith, United’s managing director of its Denver hub.