Source: LATAM Sao Paulo, Aug 6 (EFE).- LATAM Airlines Group, which was born from the 2012 merger of Chile's LAN and Brazil's TAM, said here Thursday that it will unify all of the conglomerate's brands under the name LATAM. Despite current political and economic challenges in Brazil, the region's biggest market, the group is looking to embark on "new paths and therefore uniting the brands is...

"Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300 - Wallner" by Rolf Wallner - http://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled-(Jet-Aviation/Embraer-EMB-505-Phenom/2054788/L/. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons London, Aug 1 (EFE).- Several family members of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden were killed in an airplane crash Friday in the south of England, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Britain confirmed ...

Pixabay Commons Beijing, Jul 26 (EFE).- A passenger deliberately started a fire with a cigarette lighter and gasoline on board a Shenzhen Airlines plane while it was in flight over China, although the fire was quickly extinguished and the man subdued and later arrested, the official Xinhua news agency reported Sunday. The incident occurred about 1 p.m. local time on Sunday during a flight b...

Source: Southwest Airlines DALLAS, July 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is launching a three-day sale offering extra low fares for fall travel to its international destinations from ten domestic cities including Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Dallas, Denver, Houston (Hobby), Chicago-Midway, Orlando, Orange County, and San Antonio. Customers can take advantage of...

(ICT Press Release, with additional reporting from The Costa Rica Star) – United States travel operator Apple Vacations recently announced the incorporation of a Saint Louis, Missouri-Liberia, Guanacaste route, that will be operated by XTRAirways, using a Boeing 737-400, with capacity for up to 150 passengers. Hermes Navarro, Chief of Investment Attraction for the National Tourism Board (Spanis...

WestJet CALGARY, July 20, 2015 /CNW/ - WestJet today announced it is launching new non-stop service to Florida, Mexico and Costa Rica, as well as adding more than 85 flights across its growing domestic and international network, as part of its winter 2015-2016 flight schedule. WestJet's regional airline, WestJet Encore, will also begin service three times a day to Boston, its first U.S. destin...

Washington, Jul 8 (EFE).- United Airlines said Wednesday it was forced to ground all its flights around the world due to computer problems. About 3,500 flights around the world were affected, the U.S.-based carrier said. "We experienced a network connectivity issue this morning. We are working to resolve this and apologize to our customers for any inconvenience," the airline said in a messag...

New York, Jul 3 (EFE).- JetBlue made its first weekly flight Friday between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Havana's Jose Marti International Airport as part of the measures taken in recent months to restore relations between Cuba and the United States. According to a communique from the airline, JetBlue becomes the first large U.S. airline to serve this route since restric...

Source: OVSICORI BOSTON, June 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Overseas Adventure Travel, the leader in small groups on the road less traveled, is offering free international air on select 2015 departures of three small group adventures in Central and South America.  The free air offer is available on several July-September 2015 departures (listed below) and applies to new bookings only.  Space is lim...

Source: Wikimedia Commons TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - June 29, 2015) - Sunwing Vacations has just launched its 2015/2016 cruise brochure, offering customers a 'one-stop' cruise shopping experience where they can select from a range of 7, 8, 10 or 11 night fly/cruise itineraries across the Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba and Florida, or opt for a two-week cruise & stay package. Itineraries also ...

Victoria Xipolitakis Facebook Buenos Aires, Jun 29 (EFE).- Famous Argentine model Victoria Xipolitakis denied, through her attorney, any responsibility for her presence in the cabin of an Aerolineas Argentinas airliner and announced that she plans to file suit against the pilot and copilot for sexual harassment. "(Xipolitakis) was not responsible, there were people who did not do what they ...

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - June 23, 2015) - JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU), the largest airline in Boston, today announced plans to enhance service at Logan International Airport as part of its long-term commitment to serve both business and leisure travelers who have made the airline the city's top carrier. As part of the expansion, JetBlue will introduce Mint, its highly acclaimed take on premium t...

Alaska Airlines SEATTLE, June 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines began selling tickets today on newly-announced routes between Los Angeles and Costa Rica's two major international airports. The eight weekly flights fromLos Angeles to San Jose (SJO) and Liberia/Guanacaste (LIR), Costa Rica, are scheduled to begin Oct. 31and Nov. 1, respectively, subject to approval by the Costa Rican civi...

Kayak screenshot on June 3, 2015 During a few weeks in June and July, low airfare hunters flock to select websites in search of travel deals to Costa Rica. Finding these deals takes a certain amount of skills and luck; to this end, joining an online community of bargain hunters will greatly help. Take, for example, the flight shown on the screenshot included in this article: Round-trip from Bo...

Source: Volaris Costa Rica is currently the subject of an invasion by budget airlines, which are fighting each other for market share in the lucrative segment of flights between North and Central American destinations. As recently reported by The Costa Rica Star: Data compiled by the Directorate of Civil Aviation in Costa Rica indicates that low-cost airlines transported 9.2 percent of 4.2 mi...

Volaris MEXICO CITY, May 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Volaris (NYSE: VLRS and BMV: VOLAR), the ultra low cost Mexican airline with the most extensive route network servicing Mexico and the US, announced today their incursion into the Costa Rica market with the launch of two new flights from Cancun, Quintana Roo and Guadalajara, Jalisco to Costa Rica's capital city, San Jose, starting on September ...

Wikimedia Commons ATLANTA, May 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and its commercial partnership agency, Traffic Sports, announced today that Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) will sponsor this year's edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The agreement designates Delta as the Official Airline of the 2015 Gold Cup, through...

Source: MSP IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are looking for an updated report of the helicopter that crashed in the San Juan River near the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua on Nov. 17, 2015, please visit our sister publication ICRNews: http://insidecostarica.com/2015/11/17/one-american-dead-three-persons-missing-helicopter-crash-costa-rica-nicaragua-border/   A rotary wing aircraft as...

Good news for British and European travelers awaiting the new flights by Thomson Airways and First Choice to Costa Rica. According to online travel news site TravelMole.com, Thomson will soon receive four new and shiny Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which will be used for long haul flights to select destinations, including the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Costa Rica. Located in the...

Source: OVSICORI Since the early morning hours of May 18th, the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago has been in a constant state of exhalation. Geologists from the Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) have detected sustained seismicity at this colossus, and many of the resulting eruptions have been broadcast and recorded with a digital camera pointed righ...

Source: SWAmedia.com Southwest Airlines® (NYSE: LUV) today extended its bookable flight schedule through Jan. 4, 2016, offering new international service between eight cities and Houston (Hobby) by the end of this year, including the carrier's 97th destination, Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport at Liberia in the Guanacaste beach and resort region of northwest Costa Rica, subject to fore...

Source: OVSICORI Geologists from the Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) are closely monitoring their seismographs and other instruments located around the Turrialba volcano, located in the province of Cartago, after a series of tremors were registered during lunchtime on Monday, May 11th. At this time, the OVSICORI scientists are unable to monitor the cameras...

Source: MSP Anti-narcotics officers assigned to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in the province of Alajuela arrested a tourist found in possession of nearly two kilograms of powdered cocaine hydrochloride. According to a press release by the Ministry of Public Security (Spanish initials: MSP), the tourist was trying to board a flight to Spain; he was arrested for attempting to ...

The Turrialba on May 5. OVSICORI On a clear Sunday morning in Costa Rica, the Turrialba volcano clouded the skies surrounding its crater with an ash and smoke eruption that started at 04:55 am and lasted until 05:45. Strong winds wafting around the surface crater did not allow the dark ash column to rise more than 200 meters in the air; however, the direction of the airstream transported volca...

Source: OVSICORI Civil aviation and airport officials in Costa Rica decided to suspend flight operations at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), located in the province of Alajuela, after a powerful afternoon eruption at the Turrialba volcano, located in the province of Cartago. Geologists from the National University's Observatory on Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (Sp...

Alaska Airlines SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines will chart new territory this fall when it adds new service between Los Angeles and Costa Rica's two major international airports, further strengthening its southern California focus city. The eight weekly flights from Los Angeles to San Jose (SJO) and Liberia/Guanacaste (LIR), Costa Rica, are scheduled to begin Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 respectively, and are...

Turrialba at dawn, Source: OVSICORI Despite incandescent volcanic matter being ejected from the crater of the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica, the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), located in the Alajuela province, resumed operations during the early hours of Friday. Officials from the Directorate of Civil Aviation and from Aeris, the management firm in charge of SJO, had shut down ...

Source: SWAmedia.com The two major international airports in Costa Rica are seeing a greater influx of passengers who arrive and depart aboard low-cost airlines. According to a report filed by Oscar Rodriguez of national newspaper La Nacion, 13 percent of the 4.4 million passengers at the Juan Santamaria and Daniel Oduber Quiros international airports flew aboard budget air carriers. Data c...

Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, Apr 20 (EFE).- Seven people died Monday in the Bavaro tourist area in the eastern Dominican Republic when the small plane in which they were flying crashed onto a golf course. Sources at the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute, or IDAC, told Efe on Monday that aboard the plane were four Spanish tourists, two Britons and the Dominican who was piloting the pla...

Panama City, Apr 10 (EFE).- U.S. President Barack Obama and Panamanian counterpart Juan Carlos Varela were on hand for a ceremony here Friday in which Panama's Copa Airlines and Chicago-based plane maker Boeing finalized an order for 61 jets. The $6.6 billion deal for 61 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9 airplanes was signed ahead of the inauguration of the April 10-11 Summit of the Americas in this c...

Source: Southwest Airlines ORLANDO, FL--(Marketwired - April 07, 2015) - Southwest Vacations is offering travelers a savings of up to $150 off vacation packages to select beach destinations including St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Jamaica, and Aruba. Travelers who book a flight plus hotel vacation package to select beach destinations can save on their reservation when using the promotion code B...

A Germanwings A-319. Wikimedia Commons Berlin, Apr 5 (EFE).- Lufthansa airline did not inform German air traffic authorities about the psychiatric problems being experienced by Andreas Lübitz, the co-pilot who deliberately crashed a Germanwings Airbus jet in the French Alps, killing all 150 on board. The Sunday edition of the daily Die Welt based its reporting on air traffic officials' rema...

A Germanwings A-319. Wikimedia Commons Berlin, Mar 31 (EFE).- Co-pilot Andreas Lübitz, thought to have deliberately crashed an airliner in the French Alps last week, in 2009 reported to the Lufthansa flight school the fact that he had overcome a "serious depressive episode," the German airline said Tuesday. Lufthansa revealed the new information in a communique on Tuesday after conducting a...

A Germanwings A-319. Wikimedia Commons Berlin, Mar 28 (EFE).- The German co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a passenger plane into the French Alps and killing himself and the other 149 people on board told his girlfriend last year that he was in psychiatric treatment and that he planned to do something that would make his name known worldwide. "When I heard about the crash, I kept ...

A Germanwings A-319. Wikimedia Commons Washington, Mar 25 (EFE).- The U.S. government confirmed Wednesday that three Americans died in the Germanwings passenger jet crash in the French Alps and said that efforts are continuing to determine if there were any more on board the ill-fated plane. State Department spokeswomen Jen Psaki earlier on Wednesday had confirmed the deaths of two U.S. cit...

A Germanwings A-319. Wikimedia Commons Washington, Mar 24 (EFE).- The U.S. government offered assistance and support to the countries affected by the air tragedy Monday in the French Alps and said that, so far, "there are no indications" that terrorism played a role in the crash of the Germanwings jet carrying 150 people and en route from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. "There is no indication of ...

New Orleans International Airport. Source: Wikimedia Commons Washington, Mar 21 (EFE).- A police officer shot and wounded a man who had attacked three Transportation Security Administration workers with a machete and insecticide at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, local authorities said. The attacker, a 63-year-old taxi driver identified as Richard White who did not have a...

A luxury villa in Costa Rica Tourism industry leaders in Costa Rica have come to accept the following reality: The high costs of operating a business in our country leave no choice but to attract visitors who can afford expensive vacations. In other words, Costa Rica will now be known as a destination for travelers who enjoy generous levels of disposable income. Such is the gist of a report re...

Source: OVSICORI Despite ongoing ash exhalations from the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago, officials from the Directorate of Civil Aviation agreed to allow flight operations to resume at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in the province of Alajuela. SJO was closed yesterday afternoon due to low visibility and heavy accumulation of volcanic ash covered the runway. ...

Source: Southwest Airlines DALLAS, March 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The People of Southwest Airlines® (NYSE: LUV) today inaugurated two international routes that brought new long-haul service for Customers using two of the carrier's growing gateways, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. Each of the new routes is longer than 2,000 mi...