Photo Credit: La Nacion/ Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal. Canadian company Worldwide Charter Group (WWCG) rejected the fraud accusation made by Costa Rican travel agency DestinosTV. Jose Cortes, General Manager of Destinos TV publicly accused Worldwide Charter Group of fraud in a press conference held on June 19, in reference to over 300 Costa Rican travelers that were stranded in the county after...

Air Canada announced the increase in the frequency of flights connecting Montreal, Canada to Liberia, Guanacaste, going from one to three flights a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) starting December 18, 2018; while flights from Toronto to Liberia will go from four a week to daily as of December 15, 2018, the increase in flights will maintain through April 2019, covering the high season. ...

Alaska Airlines announced this Tuesday the increase in the frequency of flights from three a week to daily in the route Los Angeles-San Jose, during the high season; while United Airlines confirmed the increase in frequency of the Chicago-San Jose flights. When it comes to Alaska Airlines the itinerary will operate from November 15 through the 26, 2018 and from December 16, 2018 to January 6, 2...

The Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT) announced the agreement with Apple Vacations to operate a new charter flight connecting Rockford, Illinois to Liberia, Guanacaste. The new flight will be operating once a week starting January 4th and through April 5, 2019. Apple Vacations is a travel agency that organizes vacation tour packages for North American tourists and operates its own charter pla...

Photo Credit: La Nacion/ Alejandro Gamboa Madrigal. The dream trip of hundreds of Costa Ricans soon became a nightmare last week when they were informed of the cancellation of their flight by travel agency DestinosTV. Close to 300 Ticos were stranded, at this point, sixty of them have been accommodated in commercial flights and are still waiting to get confirmation on their return flights, ...

The low-cost airline Spirit, announced today the expansion of its operations in the Orlando International Airport, included in the new routes announced is a direct flight connecting Orlando, Florida with San Jose, Costa Rica. The route will be inaugurated October 5th and it will have a frequency of four times a week during the first month, increasing to daily services by November 8. Spirit h...

Sunwing Airlines announced today the opening of a new route that will connect Vancouver, Canada and Liberia in Costa Rica, starting December 23, 2018. The flight will initially operate only from December 23 through March 31, departing on Sundays, to offer Canadians an opportunity to escape the cold weather of those months and enjoy the warm summer in Costa Rica. This is the second direct fl...

Low-cost airline Volaris inaugurated its new route San Jose, Costa Rica to Washington D.C. via El Salvador this Wednesday, May 16. The flights will travel from San Jose twice a week on Monday and Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. arriving in Washington D.C. at 11:35 p.m. While from the U.S. capital to Costa Rica the flights are scheduled from Dulles Airport on Tuesdays and Thursdays leaving at 1:52 a.m. ...

According to the timeline given by the construction company in charge of the works at the new Quepos aerodrome, the new landing strip will be ready by the end of July this year. On May 18, 2018 the General Directorate of Civil Aviation will take possession of the land that will be used for the second stage of the aerodrome, and therefore on May 19 the work will commence to build the Domestic Te...

The idea is to get travelers, specially foreign tourists to identify with the country the minute they get off the plane at the Juan Santamaria Airport in Costa Rica. “Sense of Arrival” is the name of the project that will transform the cold halls of the main international airport in Costa Rica into scenes inspired by the rainforests, the paradisiac beaches and culture and traditions of the cou...

Costa Rica inaugurated the new domestic terminal at the Juan Santamaria Airport this Monday morning. The construction work of the new building began in November 2017 and although it was expected to be ready by the end of March it took an additional month to complete the work. The new terminal operates 38% on solar energy, has counter space for domestic airlines and comfortable boarding rooms...

The market of domestic flights in Costa Rica had been for years dominated by Sansa Airlines, even when the operations of Nature Air where growing, Sansa always kept the leading position, statistics by Civil Aviation from 2016 showed that at that time, Nature Air was absorbing close to 30% of the market, while Sansa had almost 55% and the rest of the travelers used charter flights or smaller compan...

As The Costa Rica Star reported yesterday, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation suspended the operation permit of company Nature Air, indefinitely, and sustained their decision stating that the airline had not resumed its operations even though their previous suspension was lifted in February. Representatives of Nature Air held a press conference this Thursday at the Tobias Bolaños Airport...

Civil Aviation in Costa Rica decided to suspend indefinitely the operation permit of domestic airline Nature Air. The reason behind the suspension, according to the aviation authority, is due to the “abandonment of routes”, since the company has not resumed its operations even though the previous suspension has been lifted since February. “They have a certificate and an approval of routes, t...

Avianca Airlines has announced it will fly from San Jose, Costa Rica to Orlando, Florida as of August 2. The flight will have a three day frequency, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from San Jose to Orlando and Monday, Wednesday, Friday from Orlando to San Jose which will have a stop over in Guatemala. As an introductory price Avianca is offering a promotional fare of $299.00 (roundtrip and ta...

The second occupant of the light aircraft that crashed this Saturday morning in Bejuco, Nandayure, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, passed away. Jose Alberto Arroyo Guillen was a 26-year-old Costa Rican aviation student; he was in the plane at the moment of the accident along with his instructor, 34-year-old Esteban Mora Aguero when the accident occurred; the causes of the same are currently under inves...

One person died in the crash of light aircraft that took place this Saturday, April 28, in the area of Bejuco in Nandayure, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Two people were aboard the plane, a Cessna 182 with plates TI BIL and that apparently is part of an aviation school. The cause of the accident is still not clear, the second person in the plane is conscious but presents a head trauma and a fractu...

French company Vinci Airports signed an agreement to acquire the portfolio of Airports Worldwide, which includes co-control stakes of Costa Rica’s two major airports, 48.75% of the Juan Santamaria International Airport and 45% stake in the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. The agreement also included airports in the United States and Europe, “The operation boosts Vinci...

United Airlines opened a sales office in Costa Rica, more specifically in the Momentum Pinares complex in Pinares, Curridabat, San Jose. “This new sales office is just another of our efforts to offer our clients the best attention and experience when flying with United”, commented Carlos Granados, General Sales Manager for United Airlines in Costa Rica. With over 25 years operating in Costa...

Just one month ago Volaris Airlines inaugurated its route Costa Rica to Los Angeles, California; and today, April 18 it began operating the new San Jose, Costa Rica to New York, NY, USA route via El Salvador. This new route has a two-day frequency, Tuesdays and Fridays from San Jose and Wednesdays and Saturdays from New York. The flight makes a stop in El Salvador. Back in September 2018...

Colombian airline Avianca announced the opening of a new route to Munich, Germany starting in November, the flight will be available through the Juan Santamaria International Airport in Costa Rica. The airline will fly to Munich-Franz Josef Strauss International Airport five times a week, starting November 16. “Germany will become the third European country that the company flies to, the oth...

As it was announced in July 2017, airline Lufthansa will inaugurate this Thursday, March 29, 2018 its non-stop flight between Frankfurt, Germany and San Jose, Costa Rica. Back when the announcement was made, Tamur Goudarzi-Pour, vice-president of Sales for the Americas of Lufthansa had stated: “Beyond tourism, the Lufthansa Group offers a world of travel opportunities for both leisure and bus...

Nature Air has been facing problems since December 31st, 2017, the day of the tragic plane crash in which 12 people died, 10 American tourists and the two Costa Rican pilots. A few days later their operations were suspended by Civil Aviation and although they received green light to resume operations three weeks later, the company reported important financial loses and was forced to fire several e...

The low cost airlines Volaris Airlines began operating this Thursday, March 15 the new route Costa Rica to Los Angeles, California. Flying from San Jose, Costa Rica to Los Angeles, CA, USA with Volaris can cost you as little as $300.00 (taxes included). As it happens with most low cost airlines the basic ticket cost includes the seat in coach cabin and a carry-on luggage, but the passengers ...

Swiss airline Edelweiss will begin operating a third flight from Zurich to San Jose, the announcement was made by the Costa Rica Minister of Tourism, Mauricio Ventura, from the ITB Travel Trade Show in Berlin where the country is participating. “Less than a year ago we announced the beginning of operations in the country of this prestigious airline, member of Lufthansa Group, today we feel ver...

Domestic airline Nature Air was forced to fire 31 employees yesterday, according to the organization this decision obeyed to the “delay in the restructuring and approval of necessary loans to continue the company’s operation”. Nature Air received authorization from the National Directorate of Civil Aviation to resume their operations the first week of February, lifting a suspension that affect...

Starting October 28, 2018, the Air France-KLM group will operate one daily flight between Costa Rica and Europe during the European 2018-2019 winter season. This is the third time that Air France is increasing its offerings since November 2, 2016, when it opened the Paris-San José route with 2 flights per week. It initially increased to 3 flights per week for the current 2017-2018 winter season...

The Limon Airport will receive an investment of over U.S. $2.6 million for a new terminal that will comply with all international aeronautic norms to continue to promote the connectivity and competitiveness of this province. The new Terminal will have waiting rooms, governmental offices, division of passenger flows (National/International), fire prevention system, and water treatment plants. It...

Tourism is the main economic activity for Costa Rica, we are in the middle of the high season and having a lot of traffic in the airports is a good thing, or at least one would think that, except that for the past few months many tourists have entered or left the country with the bad experience of having to wait in line for a very long time at the Juan Santamaria Airport. The posts on different...

The Quepos airstrip is receiving an important investment of over US$9.5 million that will better the conditions and infrastructure with the purpose of strengthening local tourism. The General Directorate of Civil Aviation explained that the runway will be built with hydraulic cement with a capacity of 50 thousand pounds of weight and will be extended from the current 13 meters (42.65 feet) in w...

Two passengers of an Air Canada flight that had as destination Costa Rica, suffered minor injuries after the plane hit severe turbulence which forced the flight to be returned to Pearson Airport in Toronto. Flight AC1806 declared the emergency as it was flying over Knoxville at around 8 p.m. this Thursday, February 15. The two patients had to be taken to the hospital by Peel Paramedics, whil...

The Costa Rica Tourism Institute (ICT) will be participating in the meeting Routes Americas which will be held in Quito, Ecuador starting today, February 13 and through February 15, with the purpose of negotiating the arrival of new airlines to the country. This event gathers all airlines that operate in America, close to 70, as well as representatives from different airports in the region, de...

Nature Air received the green light from the General Directorate of Civil Aviation to resume its operations in Costa Rica last Thursday, after a suspension of more than 20 days. The domestic airline has confirmed their flights will be operating again on Friday, February 9. According to general manager Nelson Vega, they are maintaining all the destinations but they are reducing the frequency of ...

A total of 26 airlines offer flights from the Juan Santamaria Airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica, while 11 airlines operate from the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. According to information from the Costa Rica Tourism Institute (ICT), flights from the Juan Santamaria Airport offer services to 37 destinations, and the ones from the Daniel Oduber Airport co...

As we reported earlier today, the company Nature Air was expecting to receive the green light to resume operations in the country in the next few days, Civil Aviation confirmed this afternoon that they are lifting the suspension and the domestic airline can begin operating again immediately. The General Directorate of Civil Aviation confirmed that Nature Air had presented all pertinent docume...

The Juan Santamaria International Airport begins implementing new technology procedures of satellite navigation today, through which they expect to improve considerably in the times of arrivals and departures of flights. The project, under the name “Costa Rica Pura Vida” is being implemented by experts in navigation of Civil Aviation and has the support of the airlines and Aeris, the company in...

The National Directorate of Civil Aviation could be lifting the suspension of Nature Air flights by the end of this week. Rolando Richmond, sub-director of Civil Aviation confirmed that Nature Air presented all necessary documentation since this past Monday where they show that they have made the necessary changes and adjustments and hired additional personnel to comply with the requirements ...

In the last few years Costa Rica has worked in attracting new airlines to offer service in the country. So far this year the Tourism Institute (ICT) confirms it has generated 96,501 additional seats thanks to the arrival of new airlines and the increase in the frequency of flights to and from Costa Rica. Minister of Tourism, Mauricio Ventura, explained that Costa Rica has created its own strate...

Lucas Peterson, the Frugal Traveler columnist for the New York Times stood up for Costa Rica describing his trip to the country and how in his opinion “Experiencing, the ‘pure life’ of Costa Rica is a unique experience”; this after some publications in U.S. media in the past weeks have questioned the security and regulation of domestic flights in the country, following the tragic light aircraft cr...

Swiss airline Edelweiss part of Lufthansa group, reached occupation levels of over 85% in the first nine months operating the direct flight between Zurich and San Jose, Costa Rica, this result has motivated them to increase the number of weekly flights from two to three starting September 30th, 2018. Currently, Edelweiss flies between Costa Rica and Switzerland on Tuesdays and Fridays, as of Se...