Tocumen International Airport — Tocumen, Panama

Copa Airlines built its hub-of-the-Americas strategy around Tocumen International Airport, coded PTY, which sits east of Panama City and functions as the busiest, most connected airport in Central America. Panama's geographic position at the narrow isthmus linking North and South America, combined with the country's use of the US dollar and long history as a global shipping crossroads because of the Panama Canal, gave PTY a natural advantage in becoming a regional connecting point. Copa's Star Alliance membership and its extensive network of Latin American routes mean many travelers moving between, say, South America and the Caribbean or the United States pass through PTY without ever formally leaving the airport. Multiple terminals and an expanding gate footprint reflect decades of steady traffic growth tied to that connecting-hub role, and the airport continues to add capacity as regional air travel demand rises.