Last Wednesday (15) Panama City launched the Line 2 extension connecting the downtown area to the international airport, making Panama City one of the few capitals in Latin America to have an airport metro line. The works were performed by OEC - Engenharia e Construção, a Brazilian company that build the other two existing metro lines and a series of other relevant undertakings in the country, such as the recently completed modern Tocumen airport, and the Cinta Costera, an iconic avenue advancing over the sea, relieving the heavy traffic in the central region of the Panamanian capital, and the re-urbanization of the Colón district, one of the oldest in the city.

The event was attended by the Panamanian President, Mr. Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, and the General Director of the Metro, Héctor Ortega, who used the service for the first time. The expansion of the equipment has the capacity to serve up to 100 thousand inhabitants daily, in addition to tourists who need to get downtown. Every 10 minutes a new train will arrive or depart from the airport station.

According to Tito Serra, OEC’s Contract Director in Panama, we have once again demonstrated our delivery capability and our commitment to the country. "We are proud to say that this project was performed with 98% Panamanian workforce, a team of committed professionals that overcame all challenges and exceeded expectations.

The work is the result of a $53 million investment by the central government, and created 890 work positions during its performance. The project was delivered on the same day that OEC completed 17 years of operation in the country. In this period the company generated more than 40,000 jobs during the performance of 22 projects.