Panama Tocumen Airport

Not Verified |   Worst airport experience ever. Flew into this airport for a connection to Miami. Absolutely no instructions or directions from airport personnel. They did make everyone line up and go through a second makeshift security at the gate, took all liquids from us and then made us sit; would not let us get water to drink; couldn't go to the restroom without going back through security. Rude security personnel who would deliberately hide their badges and then pretend they don't speak English. No announcements regarding flights, they walk around holding up fingers to indicate which group is boarding. Restaurants have insane prices, even for airports! Will never, ever fly here again. They have the audacity to advertise Stopovers here, Copa should really address this!

Not Verified | Make sure you eat and drink before you enter the airport, the prices inside are completely crazy. Last but not least, you'll only have 30 mins of free slow WiFi, after that well, that's a rip-off as well...

Not Verified | Worst airport I've been to. Disorganized, Copa service center unattended for various hours, staff are unprofessional and rude, absolutely no focus on customer service and no willingness to assist passengers that lose their connection, even the brand new terminal 2 is dirty and has loads of parts under maintenance, distances between gates are extremely long, let's not even start about Copa airlines on their lack of customer service. Avoid at all costs.

Not Verified | The airport was staff all over the place to guide people because the signage is so bad. Information is generally very poor. Extra security at gate, and no mention of it anywhere. Security was quick, but illogical as you are just released back into the public space again. Wi-Fi is slow and only free for 30 min. No lounge seating for a normal traveler. Quiet sections at the gates are fenced off, so airport personnel can relax there. No regard for the passengers. Most expensive airport I have ever experienced. Much worse than even Scandinavian countries. Difficult to fill bottles, but it is possible that to find. Just have to walk and check a lot. No signage of course. If you are having a short transit, it is fine, but not good for a layover.

Not Verified | I had almost the whole day of transit in Panama so decided to go to the Canal - needed to fill a form but even though the lady had a pen handy she was very unfriendly and asked me to go somewhere to get the pen - didn’t let that spoil my little excursion as most Panama people were very friendly & helpful

Not Verified | Poorly managed and designed airport. Had to return my car to terminal 1 (waste of time). Then had to take a shuttle bus to terminal 2 to get my boarding pass (waste of time). Then had to walk a half hour back to terminal 1 to catch my flight (waste of time). Then had to go through a second security check at the gate (waste of time). Bathrooms are poorly maintained no soap in soap dispenser. The "new" terminal 2 already looks like a mess. The food costs about half of what the average Panamanian make in a month. Food is a total rip off and of low quality.

Not Verified |  The food, drinks, snacks are wildly expensive for Panama, can’t take water (even bought right outside the boarding area) into the boarding seating area. If you do go into the boarding seating area you have to go through security again… if you need to use the bathroom you have to show your passport and go through a small security check again just to be able to board. In terminal 2 there are signs for water fountains in several places yet not a single one to be found. There is no free airport wifi either. The airport staff are rude and not helpful at all, everyone has an attitude, it’s very off-putting. I’ve tried to give Panama a second (even third) chance and it just disappoints every time. Will most certainly be avoiding this airport at all costs in the future and I would not recommend coming through here unless there is literally no other choice.

✅ Trip Verified | People at the gates (in both ways from the U.S and to the U.S) very disrespectful, rude, and intimidating. The airline staff confiscated my duty free alleging its another personal item and threatened me with not letting me board the plane. Even though other passengers offered to take my duty free for me, the personal on the ground (whether that's the Airlines personnel or Tocumen airport personnel) denied the offers by others to bring my duty free purchase. They also accused me of having an over-sized carry-on suitcase even though it fitted perfectly fine in the measurement box they have at the gate, and again threatened me with not letting me board the plane. Beware of the duty-free policies and be ready to be taken your purchases away from you. On my way back I had another terribly bad experience because I was finishing a bottle of water right before entering the custom check point at the gate. Even though I drank my water, deposited the bottle in the appropriate can, and spoke in a nice polite way to her, the security woman rudely yelled at me, hid her identity badge for me to not be able to capture her identity and one more time, another person in the security threatened me with not letting me board the plane when I took my I-phoneto take a photo of the first woman yelling at me (given that she hid her badge from me). I even pointed out to the cameras at the airport to make the point that her behavior was being captured by those. The personnel at Tocumen airpot are disrespectful to the passengers and it feels like they abuse their power. Other reviews here demonstrate this. Either the airport or the airlines personnel need serious customer service training. In the meantime, beware of bad treatment at this airport. I have booked my next flight with a different airline that doesn't connect in Panama to avoid any potential humiliation.

Not Verified | Really bad experience, security are rude, the food court only had 1 place open and the food looked so dry. Made us make a line to check out bags and documentation even though it had all been checked before since this is just a stop in my trip, you can buy water at the airport but when you are about to board the plane you cannot carry any liquids with you so they will rush you to drink it on the spot or throw it away. If you want to go to the bathroom after they checked you, you will have to get checked again with the scanners and everything.

Not Verified | We’ve passed through Panama City at least once a year for about 20 years and love the improvements you’ve made to the airport — lots more space, better food, and much cleaner, though healthy food choices would be much-appreciated. We were thrilled yesterday when we saw the Hanukkah menorah! Thank you!!! It made us feel extra welcome.