🇵🇦 Chitré, Panama
Alonso Valderrama Airport (CTD/MPCE) is a significant regional aviation facility located in the city of Chitré, in the Herrera Province of central Panama. As the primary air link for the Azuero Peninsula, the airport plays a vital role in supporting regional commerce, agricultural services, and growing regional tourism. It primarily facilitates domestic flight operations, including regular regional services that connect Chitré with Panama City, often operated by regional carriers such as Air Panama.
The terminal building is a functional and well-maintained single-story structure designed to manage the regional passenger volume with Panamanian hospitality. Inside, travelers will find a unified departures and arrivals hall, which includes basic check-in counters and a sheltered waiting area with seating. Amenities at the airport are focused on the essentials, such as clean restroom facilities and general information signage about the region's unique cultural heritage and the nearby Sarigua National Park. Due to its regional focus and smaller scale, there are no extensive retail shops or diverse dining options available on-site, so visitors are encouraged to make any necessary food or supply purchases in the city of Chitré before their flight.
Operational capacity at Alonso Valderrama Airport is supported by a single paved runway (01/19) measuring approximately 1,500 meters in length, which is capable of handling light general aviation aircraft and small regional turboprops. Navigation through the terminal is exceptionally easy due to its compact and logical layout. For ground transportation, the airport is located within a few kilometers of the city center, with taxi services and private vehicle transfers readily available to transport visitors to their final destination or to explore the many historic sites and beaches of the Azuero Peninsula.
Alonso Valderrama Airport (CTD) serves Chitre and the Azuero Peninsula, but it is not a deep-network airport where passengers should expect multiple backup options. The airport may be practical for domestic access and local movement within Panama, but the real connection logic still belongs at Panama City, where the larger network and the country's principal international gateway sit.
That means a trip through Chitre should be planned either as a local endpoint or as a domestic segment with enough buffer around the Panama City handoff. The airport itself is small and relatively easy to manage. The issue is not complexity. It is limited service and the fact that the wider itinerary's resilience lives elsewhere.
Use CTD as a regional access airport for the peninsula. Confirm the ground transfer to Chitre or the surrounding area before arrival, and if the trip later depends on an international departure from the capital, give the domestic link and road movement enough slack. Chitre is useful locally, but Panama City is still the real connection hub, and that is where the itinerary should absorb most of the risk. The airport works best when it is treated as the end of the route, not the most delicate link in it.
• Check latest schedules when connecting through Alonso Valderrama Airport.
• Check your flight status before leaving for the airport.
• Allow extra time during peak travel periods at this airport.
• Keep important documents easily accessible at this airport.
• Download your airline's mobile app for updates at this airport.
Minimum domestic connection:
45 minutes
International connections:
90 minutes
Interline transfers:
120 minutes
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Last updated: April 2026 | Data Source: IATA and other airline sites and resources