Thanks to Southwest for coming to Panama City, but in all honesty, there are about 10 - 15 commercial flights out of PFN. There is one airline ( Delta, and Northwest... which is now Delta as well). Northwest only has about 2 or 3 of those fights per day. There are currently 6 or 8 gates at the current airport and only 2 are used. US Air showed up for a second time not too long ago to take some business from DL, they only lasted a couple of months before they packed up and left again. Panama City is a cash cow for about 2 months out of the year (Spring Break) so I would guess the high fares are to make up for the rest of the year. I don't know why we need that giant new airport, but as the blog mentioned earlier, the operative word in all of this is "St. Joe". They run everything. And those of you complaining about Tallahassee service, the new airport is about halfway there anyway. The new airport is in the middle of nowhere and will double, if not triple, the time it takes most people to get to the airport. I admit, Delta's fares for PFN are astronomical, so hopefully Southwest will help with this. I am skeptical though. Panama City has to pay for that big brand new airport and I can't help but to think that they will jack fees, taxes, and other airline expenses which will in turn keep the PFN fares rather high. But, maybe St. Joe will continue it's influence in this adventure and absorb some of those expenses. Whatever happens, I'm glad DL wont have the monopoly in Panama City and a little competition is good for the consumer. Good luck Southwest!
... View more