Panama's Cabinet Council authorizes prequalifying contractors to operate the David and Río Hato airports
The measure allows Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen, S.A. to open a prior prequalification process before holding a best-value tender for the operation, maintenance and works of both regional terminals.
The Cabinet Council authorized, through Cabinet Council Resolution No. 104 of September 29, 2026, published in the Gaceta Oficial No. 30628 of October 7, 2026, the prequalification process to contract the operation and maintenance (O&M) and works of the Enrique Malek international airport, in the province of Chiriquí, and Scarlett Martínez, in the province of Coclé.
Its article 1 authorizes the prequalification process and article 2 tasks Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen, S.A., which has managed both terminals since 2012, with carrying it out. Article 3 provides that prequalification will determine the legal, administrative, technical and financial capacity and the experience of participants, and article 4 orders the Prequalification Bases to be published on the PanamaCompra system. The Resolution rests on article 65 of the Consolidated Text of Law 22 of 2006 on public procurement, which allows the Cabinet Council to submit certain projects, exceptionally and given their value and complexity, to prequalification prior to the public act.
For airport operators and engineering consortia interested in the business, prequalification opens a concrete opportunity to position themselves before the best-value tender, in which only those who prequalified may submit a proposal. The project covers the operation, maintenance and commercial exploitation of both airports, plus the design, supply and construction of the associated works defined by the terms of reference. For Chiriquí and Coclé, modernizing these terminals is usually linked to greater connectivity, tourism and productive activity in their areas of influence, although the final scope will depend on the resulting contract.
The process is just beginning. Aeropuerto Internacional de Tocumen, S.A. must publish the Prequalification Bases on PanamaCompra and, once this stage concludes, call the best-value tender; the Resolution sets no investment amount or contract term, which will be defined in the terms of reference. Nexo Capital will follow the publication of the bases and the selection act.