Air Panamá Internacional

Air Panamá Internacional was a state owned airline from Panama that served as the flag carrier of the country between 1968 and 1989. From its hub at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, scheduled passenger flights to a number of destinations in the Americas was offered.

History

Air Panamá Internacional was founded in 1967 as a joint venture between the government of Panama and Spanish airline Iberia. When Iberia pulled out approximately ten years later, the airline became fully state-owned.
During the 1980s, when Panama was ruled by military dictator Manuel Noriega, the route network and aircraft fleet of Air Panamá went into decline because of the worsened financial and economic situation of the company, which led to Copa Airlines emerging as the largest airline of the country. All flight operations with Air Panamá Internacional ceased in December 1989 over the United States invasion of Panama. The only aircraft of the airline at that time, a leased Boeing 727. In January 1990, Air Panamá Internacional declared bankruptcy and ceased operations on December 2, 1990.
On July 11, 1991, there was an attempt by the government of Panama to relaunch the airline in summer of 1992 as Panama Air International with two Boeing 757s wet-leased from Avensa. However, this attempt failed. In 2005, Turismo Aéreo acquired the Air Panama branding and adopted its trademark rights.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Air Panamá Internacional offered scheduled flights to the following destinations:
;Argentina

;Colombia

;Ecuador

;Guatemala

;Mexico

;Panama

;Peru

;United States

;Venezuela

Over the years, Air Panamá Internacional operated the following aircraft types:

Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Boeing 727-100	6	1972	1990
Boeing 727-200	1	1986	1988	Leased from Royal Jordanian Airlines
Boeing 727-200	1	1989	1990	Leased from Faucett Perú, later disappeared while flying with Faucett
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15	1	1969	1972	Leased from McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10	1	1985	1985	Leased from Arrow Air
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-40	2	1984	1986	Leased from Jet 24