Source: Tocumen International Airport
Tocumen International Airport S.A. (AITSA) has achieved a momentous legal victory against the construction company Norberto Odebrecht S.A. (now CNO, S.A.), which has been ordered to pay $29,100,000.00 in lost profits and $1,661,730.31 in damages. In total, the arbitration sentence dictates a financial recognition of $30,761,730.31 in favor of AITSA.
This ruling represents a milestone in the dispute that began in September 2021, when AITSA decided to terminate contract No. 038/12 with Odebrecht due to serious non-compliance in the execution of the Terminal 2 expansion program. The work, which was to be delivered at the end of 2017 suffered multiple delays due to eight addendums and persistent non-compliance by the contractor, which forced AITSA, a 100% state company, to assume extraordinary expenses and stop receiving income for was already contracted.
“The protection of the interests of the Panamanian State and its population was our priority. Tocumen fulfilled its duty to put into value and fully operational a terminal that presented substantial delays, repeated non-compliance and construction defects,” AITSA declared in an official statement.
According to data from the Tocumen International Airport, a technical report is awaited by the Technological University of Panama (UTP), which will evaluate the magnitude of the collapses in the aircraft parking apron in the new Terminal 2. These problems have affected the operation of six of the 20 passenger gates. The repairs that are necessary for this area, crucial for the operations of the country’s main air terminal, could exceed 15 million dollars, according to preliminary studies.