Airline Executive Sees Panama City as “Mini-Dubai”
Emirates airlines has decided to postpone the launch of the world’s longest regular non-stop flight between Dubai and Panama City, which was scheduled to start in February 2016. But the Dubai-based airline is still working to develop Panama as its hub for flights from the wealthy emirate to Latin America.
The problem with the flight revolved around developing a code-share deal with Copa Airlines and its partners, not the airline’s interest in Panama, Emirates president Tim Clark told reporters. Only “three or four” of the 13 targeted countries have agreed to the code-sharing deal, which allows airlines to share ticket information, which allows airlines to share ticket information, he said.
“Panama is a sort of entry point for South and Central America for us and has huge potential, but we needed to get the aero-political structures in place,” Clark told Bloomberg. Emirates has big plans for connections in Panama City, which provide access to western Asia and North Africa, in addition to the Middle East, “in a very clean and easy way,” Clark said.
Clark made it clear he is a Panama fan. “You may wonder why people would travel from Guatemala to Dubai — or from Belize or San Salvador — but we know there is quite a lot of business,” Clark told Bloomberg. “Panama itself is like a mini-Dubai when you look at some of the cities in Central and South America.”
The “mini-Dubai” reference makes a lot of sense, as Panama City develops as a business, tourism and cultural hub for the region. Both Panama City and Dubai have seen a huge growth in the residential sector, in addition to developing as a leader in trade for their respective regions.
Dubai is a natural partner for Panama City, as we noted in this article. The issues between Emirates and Copa, which is spending billions to make Panama City it’s own hub, will likely be resolved by the end of the year or in 2017, Clark said. And that means the relationship with Panama City and Dubai, creating more opportunities for investment and growth in Panama City’s luxury property sector.
Jeff Barton is managing director of Punta Pacifica Realty, a Panama real estate agency focused on Punta Pacifica, the exclusive neighborhood of 18 towers perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
