BUSINESS
Picture by Wendy Reaman
RIO HATO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
By Liz Orillac QLU Towson Students
President Ricardo Martinelli approved the construction for a new International Airport in Panama, which will be located in Rio Hato, Cocle.
Rio Hato is a strategic location for Panama. Located only an hour and half from Panama City, Rio Hato is surrounded by beautiful beaches, which attract many tourists yearly. The famous all-inclusive resorts like Bijao, Decameron, Santa Clara and Buenaventura are going to be only a few minutes away from the airport.
The construction of this new airport will be beneficial to the Tocumen International Airport as well, which is one of the only airports in Panama that serves international flights. With this new airport, tourist could go straight to the places near the beaches without " losing one night " having to sleep in Panama City when arriving at the Tocumen Airport.
In the Rio Hato area, a former airport was constructed in 1942, previous to the World War II, by the United States. However, the airport was demolished and the only thing that remained intact through the years was a landing strip. This landing strip will help decrease the construction price of the new airport, since the field only needs to be fixed and not constructed from zero.
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