Which Panama Airport is best to fly or closest to City?

There are 2 airports that serve Panama City; Tocumen Airport (PTY) and Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" Airport (PAC). The airport closest to central Panama City is Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" Airport just 4.3 miles away, when using the fast Metro De Panama Line 1 train service, you can get into the city centre in 11s minutes. Tocumen Airport is the biggest airport in Panama and is located 12.4 miles away from the city centre in Panama City, the airport does not have a direct train service, so the fastest public transport takes around 45 minutes.

Compare airport distances and transfer times to the center of Panama City by public transport below.

Distance to Central Panama City:

Albrook Airport: 4.3 miles / 7 km
Tocumen Airport:12.4 miles / 20 km

Albrook Airport to Central Panama City Journey Times:

By Train: 11 minutes
By Shuttle: 10 minutes
By Taxi: 6 minutes

Tocumen Airport to Central Panama City Journey Times:

By Shuttle: 45 minutes
By Taxi: 15 minutes

The best airport to fly into when travelling to Panama City is Albrook airport, this is so because it is closer to the city centre where passengers can visit the Miraflores Lock at Panama Canal just 7.2 km from the airport. The airports good public transport connection by bus and train is confy and fast enough convey passengers to central Panama city even when travelling with children or a lot of luggage. Albrook has a single terminal and is easy to navigate the terminal, it handles less crowd so you will experience fewer queues and flight delays at the airport.The airport is served by Air Panama with flights to a large number of destinationswithin Panama and South America.

PTY (Tocumen airport) is the primary airport in Panama City and the home to Copa Airlines and many other airlines such as Air Canada Rouge, Air China, Air Europa, Air France, American Airlines, American Eagle, Lufthansa, KLM and many more. Tocumen airport handles both short haul and long haul flights around the world and it is the furthest airport from the city centre in Panama City, this makes journey times longer even when using it's efficient public transport services by shuttle or taxi to Panama city or Panama Canal and other parts of the country. As the main airport, it has a single terminal with the second one under construction but handles more crowd than Albrook airport, so longer queues, and flight delays should be expected.

Albrook airport is generally better than PTY due to its close proximity to the city centre and the ease of getting to the top attractions around Panama city. With just a single terminal, Albrook handles less crowds with fewer delays, less queues and cheaper flight fares. Business travellers will most likely prefer to use this airport to settle in faster than at PTY

Albrook is literally just beside Miraflores Locks a part of the Panama Canal, an artificial 82 km waterway in Panama connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The airport is 7.2 km to the Miraflores Locks and the Panamá Regional Bus is the fastest way to travel between the airport and Miraflores Locks with a journey time of 26 minutes. The bus departs hourly and costs $1. You can use Uber which costs around $3-$57 and takes about 8 minutes.

From Albrook Airport by:

Train: Metro De Panama Line 1$1 - http://www.elmetrodepanama.com/ Trains run every hour daily.

Shuttle: $75-$90 -http://panamapelican.com/front/services/airport_transfers Available on demand.

Taxi: $16 - $20 - http://www.panama24.org/Taxis-en-Panama.htm Available 24/7.

Uber: $4-$5- https://www.uber.com/en/gb/ Available on demand.
But Private taxes are cheaper than Airport taxis, here to Book at

From Tocumen Airport by:

Shuttle: $9-$90 -http://panamapelican.com/front/services/airport_transfers Shuttles are available on demand.

Taxi: $20 - $25 - https://www.paginasamarillas.com.pa/empresas/cooperativa-de-transporte-taxis-expreso/panama-15787273Available 24/7.

Uber: $13-$17 - https://www.uber.com/en/gb/ Available on demand.
But Private taxes are cheaper than Airport taxis, here to Book at

Hotel prices can vary greatly depending on how far in advance you book, the demand for rooms, and which hotel you book but the prices below will give you a rough idea and you can do further research and hotel booking at https://www.tripindicator.com/hotel.html

Albrook Airport Hotels: From $46 per night
Tocumen Airport Hotels: From $50 per night

All of the airports mentioned offer competitive prices and a range of cars to suit your needs. Prices are based on the type of car, driver age, length of hire, and demand but you can get a rough idea for each airport below.

Albrook Airport Car Rental:
Budget Cars: (Kia Picanto etc): $36.69 per day
Intermediate Cars: (Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Avensis, etc): $41.69 per day
Compare prices here - https://www.tripindicator.com/car-rental.html

Tocumen Airport Car Rental:
Budget Cars: (Kia Picanto, Hyundai I10 etc): $34.69 per day
Intermediate Cars: (Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Avensis, etc): $31.19 per day
Compare Prices here - https://www.tripindicator.com/

Tocumen International Airport is the main international airport serving Panama City, the capital of Panama.

Tocumen Airport has a singlepassenger terminal- T1. A second terminal-T2 is under construction.

Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" Airport is the closest airport to the city centre at just 7 kilometres and the faster mode of transport is by taxi which takes 6 minutes to get to where all the top attactions are located. It costs $16-$20, buses $75-$90.

At PTY, the following hotels are the best for travellers, Crowne Plaza Panama Airport (4-Star) -$130, Express Inn Panama International Airport Hostel (1.5-star) -$50, and Riande Aeropuerto Hotel & Casino (4-Star) - $118. At PAC, Wyndham Panama Albrook Mall (4-Star)- $128, DOS PALMITOS B&B (3-Star) - $72, and The Balboa Inn(3-Star) - $46.

Some of the most see places in Panama City include Miraflores Locks, Amador Causeway, Casco Viejo, Isla Taboga, Panama Viejo, Ancon Hill, and many more.