The German airline Condor will operate flights on the Germany-Panama route from this year, as announced by the President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, in his report to the Nation during the act of installation of the second legislature of the first period of ordinary sessions of the National Assembly.
Mulino said that this is one of the agreements reached with charter companies and large wholesalers, which has been concretizing the current administration.
The negotiation between the airline Condor and Panama is being managed by the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Promtur) to define the agreements to promote the route.
Condor’s incursion would restore the connectivity route with Germany, which at that time was deactivated with the departures of Lufthansa and Eurowing.
It was reported, at the time, that different routes were affected due to the effects of the pandemic. Another cause is the situation related to the acquisition of aircraft equipment by suppliers for Boeing and Airbus.
It has been announced that these Condor operations in Panama will begin from June, offering three types of economic, premium and business rates.
According to Ovidio Díaz, president of Camtur, this is good news for the sector. “It’s positive. It’s up to us to undertake a marketing work, positioning and announce that we have a tourist destination in Panama.”
“We have to understand that we have to sell a destination that is Panama, not a specific area,” he said.
He indicated that with Europe there is good connectivity, “we have airlines that travel every day to Europe, we must continue to sell our destination, and try to ensure that these planes that bring 300 or more passengers have Panama as their final destination.”
Insurance for tourists
President Mulino also anticipated in his speech that this month the tender will be held to offer insurance to tourists that he had already indicated will be free.
In this regard, the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP) indicated that the specifications are ready and in the coming weeks the approval meeting will be held to later proceed with the tender.
The president of Camtur, indicated that what entrepreneurs in the sector expect is that the Government announces the tender with the appropriate time so that those who want to compete can do so transparently.
“We hope that this management will be positive and on its impact we hope that at the end of the year we will have the statistics to know the results of that public investment,” Díaz said.
Previously, representatives of the sector have pointed out that this resource would represent a seal of security that would support the management of the promoters, the Tourism Promotion Fund and the ATP.
Other actions
Mulino also referred to the ATP-IDB efforts to develop strategic projects such as the revitalization of the city of Colón, the rehabilitation of churches in the Old Town and the modernization of convention centers.
As well as the relaunch of the Panama STOPOVER program, with Copa Airlines, which he said, exceeded the annual target with almost 160,000 passengers, a growth of 23% compared to the previous year. In addition, he mentioned the progress in the modernization of Alonso Valderrama airports in Chitré, Raúl Arias in Isla Contadora and Marcos Gelaberte in Panama.