Panama Tocumen Airport

Customer Reviews

No Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 123 reviews
3/10
No Skytrax Rating
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2/10

"rudest security ladies ever"

(United States)

Trip Verified | Why on Earth do you take empty water bottles on the security check between two airports to fly to Fort Lauderdale? TSA rules state empty bottles are ok in carry on or packed luggage. Everybody just shrugged. The rudest security ladies ever!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitJanuary 2020
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"Avoid it if you can"

(United States)

Not Verified | No free Wi-Fi (30" free then pay). No charging stations at gate, people still sitting on floor next to outlets, and this is the new terminal. Tickets say "terminal" yet the airport signage says "sala". The signage uses a color coding system, but without explanation anywhere. Departure monitors show a limited # of flights and rotate very quickly which makes you wait and wait to see your flight. This is the new terminal! Avoid it if you can.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitDecember 2019
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
3/10

"What a disaster!"

(United States)

Trip Verified | Arrived Panama City. Airport arrival and departure screens confusing and sweep through info fast. Hallways narrow, crowded and filled with people “meandering” along. Hard to get from one gate to the next. Food court horrible. Service slow, poor food quality and not attempt or agenda that “this is a airport and people trying to get somewhere”. At the gate, there are signs that say “group 1 or group 2”. No one minds these signs ... just mass chaos. People cut in line and board when they want to. Almost felt like a concert where people get crushed from stampede of crowd. People in the back of plane just fill up overhead luggage storage at front of airplane. We alL got on plane and then United had “shift change”. So we sat and waited over and hour to take off. The way back was more of the same. Will avoid Panama City airport next time we flew to South America. What a disaster!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitNovember 2019
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
7/10

"do not have any problems with this airport"

(Brazil)

Trip Verified | I do not agree with most negative comments here. I am a frequent visitor to Tocumen airport, and I can tell things have improved since 2008 when I had my first visit! The airport is huge, with plenty of seats, food and shopping options! You just have to look around, yes it can be pricey but it is like that on any international airport, the extra screening is done only on passengers flying to the USA due to USA gov's demands, not Tocumen's fault. Many hotels offer free transfer, but still if you do not have a transfer you can take a 0.50 cents bus outside the arrival hall on the other side of the road. I agree on the strong air con issue, bring a sweater, some parts of this airport is freezing. I do not have any problems with this airport whatsoever.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitNovember 2019
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
4/10

"free internet is terrible"

(United States)

Not Verified | 30 min free internet is terrible. People may need more time for even basic things. Many airports are all time free. Follow good example of other airports around the world.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitNovember 2019
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
1/10

"the airport is really a sad place"

(United States)

Not Verified | Unpleasantness. I enjoy traveling in Panama and the country is actually very safe and interesting, but the airport is really a sad place. I'm sure there are exceptions, but the staff generally seem miserable here. Immigration lines were long on the way in and the officer didn't speak a word of English. On the way home, security found a metal fork in my bag. I don't understand why Panama won't allow forks to fly, but the security officer took my entire bag apart just to find the fork and then said "no fly" to me. After exiting security, I scanned the shops and couldn't find one decent eatery nor souvenir place. When I got to my United gate, there was a huge line of people waiting for "document check." I wasn't sure if I needed to wait on the line and nobody was available to answer questions, so I waited. When I got to the front of the line, I learned that my passport had already gotten a sticker at check-in. In order to sit at my gate, there was another security checkpoint (even though I'd already been screened). The gate area was really horrible. As other commentators have mentioned, there weren't close to enough seats available and it was a very tight space. On top of all this, the physical structure of Tocumen looks unappealing and lacks any charm. What a terrible way to leave a nice country. Panama can do better with this major hub!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitNovember 2019
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"dirty, overpriced, and has very few options"

(United States)

Not Verified | It’s the worst airport experience I’ve ever had. Please avoid it at all costs if you can. The staff are extremely rude, trained to treat passengers like cattle, not like human beings. Even if you haven’t left the terminal and are just taking a connecting flight, they make you go through improvised security checks right at your gate, where they disrespect you in every possible way. And this is when you are lucky enough to know what gate your flight is taking off form! There is nobody to guide you at the premises, to tell you where to go or how long to wait, and your flight won’t be posted on the screens until maybe 30 minutes before departure! Employees are disorganized, untrained, and don’t give you reasons for anything. It’s dirty, overpriced, and has very few options when it comes to food or miscellaneous shopping.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitJanuary 2019
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"staff here are very unorganized"

(United States)

Not Verified | The staff here are very unorganized, instead of telling us to line up for a search they let everyone settle down. Next, they lie about taking ones purchasing of product/s from another airport and say "They just tell you to buy it so they can make money" and then try to deny the fact that we can take it with us. I would never recommend this airport or the staff of having good service.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitSeptember 2019
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
7/10

"wasn't a bad experience"

(Belgium)

Trip Verified | After reading some reviews on Tocumen Airport I expected the worst. I even arrived at the airport 3 hours in advance because of the countless security checks I read on here. I took a plane twice at Tocumen Airport in the last 10 days: One to Medellin and one to Madrid. Both times it took me between 5 to 10 minutes to get from the check-in counter to the gate. Not bad at all. Also, there is no 2nd security if you fly to European countries or other Latin American countries. This only applies to flights to the US. Thank the US government for that. I also purchased some food (not that bad) and a bottle of water each time. Water was 3.25 USD, not 6 or 8 USD. Same price as in any other airport. The airport is also larger and wider than I read on here. I've been to over 100 airports in the last 10 years and Tocumen is definitely not in the top 20 of worst airports I've ever been. Not really sure what all these reviews below me are about. One thing I can agree on is that is the cold/warm situation. It can be a bit chilly in some parts of the airport and quite warm 100 ft. further. Overall, Tocumen wasn't a bad experience.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitMay 2019
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
2/10

"a horrible airport"

(United States)

Trip Verified | This is a horrible airport. The air conditioning is terribly inconsistent hot in one place cold in another. The gate changes are all over the place and the the security is irritating making you redo security even though you haven't left the terminal. The Wi-Fi is only free for 30 minutes and it forces you to see advertising.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitJanuary 2019
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
no