Panama CAA DG calls for greater liberalisation and harmonisation in Latin America

Panama's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) DG Rafael Bárcenas, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Latin America & Caribbean, stated (10-Sep-2026) greater liberalisation and harmonisation of aviation regulations, charges and processes for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean "could bring great benefit to the region, because right now there's a lot of disparity between everything", adding: "That's something that needs to be addressed". Mr Bárcenas said: "We definitely have to work on the harmonisation of the rulebooks", as the issue of regulatory discrepancies between countries "is making the job of the aviation industry very difficult", reporting: "I can tell you examples of countries where importing a part to fix an airplane is almost impossible or takes a month and a half". He continued: "We are chasing fees all around. We have a neighbouring country that charges 40% more, then you have somebody else that charges a lot less", concluding: "The perfect scenario would be that all our airspaces would be based on the same fees". [more - CAPA TV]