Harrison Ford and Wife Calista Flockhart. Wikimedia Commons Los Angeles, Mar 5 (EFE).- U.S. actor Harrison Ford is in stable condition after the small plane he was flying crashed on a golf course near the Santa Monica, California, airport, a spokesperson with the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to People magazine on Thursday. The injuries sustained by the 72-year-old star of the "St...

Source: Aeris If you must park your vehicle at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Costa Rica, please note that your parking costs recently went up by more than 100 percent. According to a report by Fabio Mena of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, the new daily parking fee increased from $14.75 to $35, and the hourly rate climbed to $2.48 from $2.14.   If you choose to...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Agents assigned to the Alajuela Regional Delegation of the Office of Judicial Investigations (Spanish initials: OIJ) are investigating the death of a 53-year old man who was found dead upon landing in Costa Rica. The 53-year old man has been identified as a Costel Comana, a wealthy Romanian citizen. In an institutional communique, OIJ agents provided preliminary in...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Canadian airline Sunwing intends to offer more connections between North American cities and Costa Rica. As reported by The Costa Rica Star, Sunwing has previously announced flights from Toronto and Edmonton to the Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR), which is conveniently located near the Gold Coast beaches of Guanacaste. According to a report by Juan...

Source: Pure LAS VEGAS, Jan. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Pure Hospitality Solutions, Inc., (OTC: PNOW) announced today, that the Company has moved to engage the services of the Sabre Travel Network, potentially adding 125,000 base hotels to the Oveedia platform. Aside from Pure's Central American-Caribbean niche, Sabre brings an affiliate network of over 400 airlines, 16 cruise lines and more tha...

Boeing 737 engine Ever since the esteemed airline LACSA ceased operations, air travelers and the aviation community have been anxiously waiting for the day Costa Rica will once again have its very own international airline. That day may come later this year as the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (Spanish initials: DGAC) is preparing to officially certify Air Costa Rica in the next few mo...

Penas Blancas file photo When it comes to topics of discussion related to Costa Rica travel, onward tickets are seldom mentioned. Foreign visitors who arrive in Costa Rica with a tourist visa and a round-trip ticket do not generally have to worry about this issue; however, travelers who wish to extend their trips, explore Central America and the Caribbean, become perpetual tourists, or re-ente...

Source: Tabacon CHICAGO, Jan. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announces the launch of United Eco-Skies® Vacations, a new travel program that provides United customers with vacation options that incorporate sustainability and environmental responsibility into their getaways. The airline is working with The Mark Travel Corporation, exclusive tour operator for United Vacations, and...

Source: Wikimedia Commons In the world of commerce, the term VIP (Very Important Person) is often attached to products and services that conform to a premium level and thus command a much higher price. The VIP label can be attached to just about any situation, and it does not really mean that the person acquiring premium goods or services is more or less important than anyone else; however, it...

Source: Ludacris Instagram Actor and musician Christopher Brian Bridges, better known as Ludacris, is celebrating his engagement in Costa Rica. According to online news website Rap-Up.com, the marriage proposal by the hip-hop star was handled with a lot of style:   Ludacris has put a ring on it. The rapper and his longtime girlfriend Eudoxie Agnan got engaged on Friday.   W...

Source: Wikimedia Commons TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - December 23, 2014) - Tropical adventure came a little bit closer to residents of Alberta this week as Sunwing Vacations launched a new direct flight service from Edmonton to Liberia, Costa Rica. On the way to one of the country's most captivating regions, passengers were treated to award-winning Sunwing Airlines' Champagne Service, which fe...

As the United States continues to climb out of the Great American Recession, tourists are busy planning their 2015 vacation. Latin America is emerging as a favorite region for U.S. tourists to visit, and Costa Rica is returning to the annual list compiled by online travel site Priceline.com.   According to Priceline, Costa Rica is the fifth nation on the Top Ten list of international tr...

Source: Spirit One of the most successful discount airlines in the United States recently announced an increase in the frequency of its flights between Houston and Costa Rica starting on May 28, 2015. Earlier this year, Spirit Airlines made news when it repainted many of its aircraft in a bold and bright yellow pattern that makes their passenger jets look like big New York City taxis in the sk...

Over the last few years, the luxury travel segment has managed to flourish despite most of the world still being challenged by the global financial crisis that started in earnest back in 2008. As demand for luxury tourism increases, Costa Rica is being added as a special destination with greater frequency, Here's a recent press release by Four Seasons, a luxury brand that offers private jet advent...

German airline Condor is the latest European carrier increasing its number of flights to Costa Rica. Such is the report by Tatiana Gutierrez Wa-Chong of business weekly El Financiero, published by Grupo Nacion. The new flight on Tuesday increases the number of flights between Frankfurt and the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) to three per week.   The new Condor flight connect...

Thanks to JetBlue Airways, residents of the Greater Boston area in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can now board a flight from Logan International Airport (BOS) and in just a few hours they could find themselves enjoying the pristine beaches of Costa Rica's Gold Coast. On November 1st, JetBlue announced a strategy to connect New England residents with choice Latin American and Caribbean destinat...

Following the midnight eruption of the Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica, the Directorate of Civil Aviation has issued a warning to pilots, controllers and members of air crews about the lingering ash clouds that have formed in some air corridors over the country. Civil Aviation Director Alvaro Vargas explained that the volcanic ash could affect flights and airport operations in Costa Rica. At th...

Source: Bing Creative Commons From December 19th to January 2014, United Airlines will increase the number of non-stop flights to the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) from the following departure locations: George Bush International Airport in Houston and Newark Liberty International in New Jersey. United Airlines plans to assign Boeing 737-800 aircraft to these additional flights; ...

The Panamanian / Costa Rican border is in constant flux. The most recent change occurred quietly over the last few weeks. Panamanian border officials are now entering your ticket details into the computer to validate if your flight is a valid outbound flight. Due to perpetual tourism in Costa Rica (a practice where a person without residency lives in Costa Rica by renewing their tourist visa every...

Source: Wikimedia Commons The frantic search for Malaysia Airlines passenger flight MH370, which never reached its Beijing destination after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, has turned into a hijacking investigation as Prime Minister Najib Razak stated that the Boeing 777-200ER may have been deliberately diverted off course. Hopes of finding the aircraft remain strong; alas, aviation history in C...

Source: Wikimedia Commons With the high tourist season looming just before the holidays, Costa Rica is getting ready to welcome hundreds of thousands of North American and European visitors. According to Canadian tour operator Signature Vacations, member of the Sunwing Travel Group, the high demand from tourists who want to vacation in Costa Rica calls for added capacity. A recent press rel...

Ticos Air, the new Costa Rican airline on Monday presented the relevant documentation to the Dirección General de Aviación Civil (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) for the certificate of operation of several international destinations. The company says its goal is to fly first from Costa Rica to Mexico and then incorporate other routes. Last May Avianca announced the elimination of five...

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION ON CHANGE.ORG This article was inspired by the readers of The Costa Rica Star, who are always asking us "when will a Canadian Airline offer direct flights from Vancouver and Calgary Canada to San Jose and Liberia Costa Rica?" Well, the only way to truly get this kind of change happening, is to gather enough support and signatures from thousands of people i...

Fun fact, The Costa Rica Star was founded by a Canadian. 130,000 visitors from Canada entered the country this year, which makes them one of the main generators of tourism for Costa Rica. Furthermore, Canada is the second biggest foreign exchange generated by tourism in Costa Rica, with $142 million last year. Canadian airline WestJet opened direct service on Monday to Costa Rica, with se...

A TACA Airbus A321, similar to the one which landed with a flat tire yesterday at Juan SantamariaSAN JOSE, COSTA RICA – October 19th, 2012 – An Airbus A321 belonging to TACA airlines, carrying 146 passengers and 7 crew members, skidded while landing yesterday at the Juan Santamaria International Airport, in Alajuela. The incident occurred around 4 p.m.  Hector Chaves, chief of the Costa Rican Fire...

Due to the popularity and success of its Costa Rica program, Sunwing is pleased to announce the launch of new flights to San Jose (SJO), in addition to its current flights to Liberia (LIR). Flights from Toronto will depart weekly on Fridays from December 21, 2012 to April 12, 2013. Sunwing will also be offering vacation packages, which include an excellent selection of hotels in some of Cos...

From exotic animals to mysterious Mayan ruins; don't miss these six stops on a trip to this underestimated Central American country 1. Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary Crooked Tree is a village rich in Creole culture and a reserve with abundant bird life. This is possibly one of the richest birding areas in Belize and Central America. It is recognised as a wetland of international imp...

To arrive to a new place in the dark is like tasting a new food with a blindfold on. You can feel the edges, but a full color appreciation isn’t possible until daylight arrives. Night time in the small town of La Pirraya on an island in Jiquilisco Bay is quiet; the fishermen and their families gather in small compounds preparing the days catch and saving energy for an early rise the next day. ...

Last year a gay couple returning from a trip to Costa Rica got quite a shock at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport: Luggage handlers had gone through their bags, found a dildo, removed it and taped it to the exterior of their suitcase—so all the passengers could see it as it made its way down the baggage carousel. Bilerico Project’s Michael Hamar, who knows the aggrieved couple well...

Ladies, let's talk about shoes. Fellas don't leave me just yet this concerns you as well, plus I promise no Blahnik or Louboutin talk (ladies are you impressed I know them?). Mostly I'm concerned about you. You flew many miles and spent tons of money to come visit us in Costa Rica. You're probably packing cameras, iPhones or iPads worth hundreds or thousands of dollars so you can capture ...

Thank you Interjet and Aeromexico for making it possible to buy a ticket without feeling like you have been robbed at gunpoint. As was the case in other Central American countries with the opening of flights operated by companies outside of the isthmus, in Costa Rica, airline ticket prices for flights from San Jose to Mexico City have fallen by 60%. Although the article by Evelyn Grana...

WestJet announced today it will add four new sun destinations and extend two more from seasonal to year-round as part of its 2012-2013 winter schedule. The new Caribbean destinations are Antigua and Barbuda, Curacao and Costa Rica, all from Toronto Pearson International Airport. The airline's newest Mexican destination is Manzanillo, via Calgary International Airport. Details of WestJet's n...

Copa Airlines has added Liberia, in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, to its list of destinations with the launch of a new flight from Panama. The new Tocumen (Panama) – Liberia (Costa Rica) route operates on Sundays and Thursdays, departing Panama at 09:52 and arriving in Liberia at 10:23. The return flight departs Liberia at 11:25 and arrives in Panama at 13:58 on both days. For ...

This week, TACA Airlines, Copa Airlines and Avianca joined the Star Alliance. If you are unfamiliar with the major Global Airline Alliances, they are: Star Alliance (United and US Airways), SkyTeam (Delta), and oneworld (American Airlines). What the alliances do is increase your ability to have better coordination of scheduling between different airlines. This results in efficient connection ti...

As Costa Rica increasingly grows into a highly visited destination, the need for innovation in emergency medical services becomes more pressing. Air ambulance services have been around since World War I, but sophisticated and readily accessible aeromedical services have only recently become available in Costa Rica. Over the last three years, Nature Air -a domestic airline that is probably best kn...

A question in USA Today's popular "Ask the Captain" commercial aviation column deals with Costa Rica's busiest airport, our beloved Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela. The question is about the angle of the SJO runway. The reader noticed that the passenger terminal, which runs parallel to the runway, is on a rising incline from gate 1 all the way past gate 20. This means that ...

Starting on June 24th, 2012, perpetual tourists residing in Guanacaste and the northern zone of Costa Rica will have Panama as a sensible option for a visa run. Copa Airlines will begin flying from the new Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport in Liberia (LIR) directly to Panama. The new route will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, starting in Panama at 9:52 pm and arriving in LIR at 10:23...

Flying will be cheaper than bus travel for a few days in Costa Rica. Nature Air, a domestic flight carrier that bills itself as the world's first carbon-neutral airline, will offer very cheap flights with a couple of promotions during May. These two promotions will be the most inexpensive flights offered in 2012. The first promotion started two days ago, and will run until Saturday, April 28th ...

As the first-ever Costa Rica Craft Beer Festival is underway in Avenida Escazu, more good news for beer lovers just arrived: Passengers flying from Denver or St. Louis to our Juan Santamaria and Daniel Oduber international airports will be able to enjoy Colorado's finest offerings on their next flight. The latest press release from Denver-based Frontier Airlines announced: "This brew is on y...

Centuries before the Wright brothers made their seminal engine-powered flight, humans were clearly obsessed with flight. From the Daedalus and Icarus tales of Greek mythology to Leonardo Da Vinci's ingenious sketches of flying machines, humanity has been set on defying gravity and soaring through the air in search of that ultimate freedom bestowed upon the bird species by Nature. Flying and to...