Airline Volaris Costa Rica had presented its application to be allowed to operate in airports in the United States a while back, however, their petition had met the objection of Southwest Airlines; however, the US’ Department of Transportation issued this September 21 an order that provides temporary authorization to Volaris Costa Rica for operations between these two countries. The official do...

The earthquake that affected Mexico City this September 19 at this point and according to reports has claimed the lives of over 225 people, collapsed buildings, and several damages. Considering the tragedy and complicated situation, several airlines are waiving change fees on flights to and from Mexico City. American Airlines, United Airlines, Copa, Aeroméxico and Avianca are some of the air...

If your travel in or out of Costa Rica today takes you via Panama's Tocumen International Airport you may be grounded or delayed. An electrical problem inside our southern neighbor's airport caused flight disruptions this morning, September 18, and has now been remedied, said Tocumen airport officials this morning. Copa Airlines was heavily affected by the problem as many of its flights to o...

The air traffic control systems and the aeronautic communication systems at the Radar Control Centers in the Costa Rican airports were from 2006, while the radars had a 18 year operating life; these systems among others were recently replaced with the lastest generation technology. The new systems for processing flight plans, the functionalities for the transmission of data coordination between...

Hurricane Irma has already caused a lot of damage and claimed the lives of 13 people so far in its path through Antigua, Barbados, St. Martin and Puerto Rico, while it is still a very dangerous hurricane and it is expected to affect Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba and certain areas of Florida in the next couple of days. This situation has caused flights to and from the affected destinations to be ...

This is raw footage of yesterday's initial rescue efforts of an aircraft accident near San José, Costa Rica which has claimed the lives of two of the six people on board, including American expat, Randall Lindner. The footage is courtesy of the Spanish-language Costa Rican newspaper La Prensa Libre.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR4VfAt8yjU&feature=youtu.be  ...

More details are starting to become available on the deadly small aircraft crash early this morning near the Pavas, San José airport which affected six individuals. However, Nature Air, who operated the flight, said they were not making public statements on the event due to the fact that the crash is under investigation by the Civil Aviation Department. A woman identified as Costa Rican Marí...

A plane operated by NatureAir with five passengers plus a pilot on board crashed into a river in Pavas, a western sector of San José, Costa Rica early this morning which were confirmed by the airline. It is confirmed that five passengers were on board, and one of them, a woman estimated to be 40 years old, died as a result of the crash. Information on the identities and nationalities of the pas...

The emergency situation currently faced by several areas in Texas has caused the cancellation of flights to and from several countries to Houston, among them, Costa Rica where so far 19 flights have been cancelled, as reported by Aeris, the company in charge of the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Costa Rica. The flights were scheduled between Saturday and this past Tuesday, August 29 a...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board has been aggressive in its strategy to attract more tourism to the country and diversify its markets. With many new European airlines operating in the country the number of tourists from this continent has increased considerably. Efforts continue and apparently the country will be celebrating the arrival of more airline options soon. According to Aeroinfo Costa Rica...

Southwest Airlines announced yesterday a sale on nonstop flights to and from San José, Costa Rica during their winter season which starts November 5. Grab a low fare to the Miami area (via Ft. Lauderdale), to Houston (Hobby), and/or Baltimore/Washington, DC (BWI), with some new nonstop routes being offered, and some great advance fares. Current daily nonstop Southwest service between both Liberi...

Coriport the current concessionaire of the Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia is looking to take complete control of the airport and is offering to cover the repair and work that the airstrip requires. Coriport’s has the concession contract since 2010 and is looking to convince the Technical Council of Civil Aviation (CETAC) to approve the extension of the contract. Under the current contract the...

Aeris, the company in charge of the operations of the Juan Santamaría Airport, launched the artistic exhibit “Paraíso Infinito de Posibilidades” , “Paradise of Endless Possibilities”, with the goal of bringing tourists closer to the Costa Rican culture and natural beauty through photographs and sculptures by national artists. “We have been working on this type of initiatives since 2014 through ...

Flying through Air France and KLM from San José, Costa Rica has plenty of advantages; the companies offer what is known as “joint rate”, which means travelers can fly out of San José with Air France and fly back with KLM or vice versa without additional charges or fees; in addition, clients will be able to visit up to three destinations for the price of a round trip ticket. “If for example some...

German carrier, Lufthansa, announced today that it will include a direct Frankfurt - San Jose connection on its summer flight schedule for 2018. Starting March 29, 2018, a non-stop Lufthansa flight will take off every Thursday and Saturday from Frankfurt to Costa Rica. This is the seventh European airline to announce a direct connection to Costa Rica in the last three years. Lufthansa, one o...

The British engineering firm, Mott MacDonald, announced yesterday the delivery of the much-awaited masterplan for the proposed new international airport in Orotina, Alajuela, Costa Rica. The project will replace Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport, which will be unable to meet future passenger demand beyond 2026. The 12-month feasibility study forecasts a demand of 7.8 million...

A multi-agency commission charged with improving things at the Costa Rica's main international airport has identified priority areas in their first two months of work. Costa Rican Tourism Minister Mauricio Ventura said the commission detailed "seven internal problems at the airport, for which measures were proposed over the short and medium term." He was enthused at the speed at which the commi...

The Juan Santamaría Airport in Costa Rica had to suspend its operations this Saturday as a consequence of the national blackout. The electric service was interrupted at 1:15 p.m due to a failure in the Regional Interconnection System; this problem is also affecting Nicaragua, Panama and even Guatemala. All flights coming in and out of the country are either delayed or suspended for now, conf...

In April this year, KLM Royal Dutch Airline announced they would start two weekly direct flights between Amsterdam and Costa Rica to accommodate growing European winter tourism to the tropical vacation haven starting October 31, 2017. This week the airline said they would be increasing that service to Costa Rica in the first quarter of 2018 with an additional flight. The third weekly flight ...

The General Direction of Migration in Costa Rica will eliminate, starting August 2017, the paper forms used for the registry of entry and exit of passengers at the Juan Santamaría International Airport. Starting August 15 the registry will be done automatically through the digital reading of the passport. According to the Migration Director, Gisela Yockchen, this is the first of a series of ...

Costa Rica will see the growth of gourmet coffee and chocolate options with the expansion of Britt outlets. "Britt, besides being a gourmet brand of coffee and chocolates, is characterized by the high level of service that strengthens the creation of memorable experiences. The Britt Chocolateries try to instill a taste for good chocolate. We have seen that the customer who already consumes our ...

The Coto 47 airfield along Costa Rica's Pacific coast, in the southernmost area of the Puntarenas province, about 10 miles form the Panamanian border, just got a major overhaul. The investment exceeded €1.02 billion or roughly US$1.76 million, and will benefit businesses, residents and visitors in the southern Pacific region, said the Costa Rican government in a press statement. Coto 47 (IAT...

According to a market report for Latin America and the Caribbean by air travel intelligence company Official Aviation Guide (OAG) Flightview, Costa Rica has the international airports with most flight cancellations in the region. This study is carried out every month by OAG, a company based in the United Kingdom that provides analytical tools, databases and reports to assess air travel trends a...

Saturday, police surprised a nervous-looking Italian man at the Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela, Costa Rica. It turns out he was attempt to smuggle cocaine out of the country by carrying it in his stomach. This marks the 17th person to be caught muling drugs this year at the airport, said the Public Security Ministry. Costa Rican Drug Control Police discovered that th...

Finally, and after years of different technical studies, the Costa Rican Government received today the full report with 2,829 pages regarding the technical viability, financial aspects and pre-design of the construction of a new international airport in Orotina, Alajuela. In May of 2016 a $1.8 million contract with British engineering company Mott Macdonald was signed to conduct a technical and...

“A major IT system failure” caused the cancelation of all British Airways flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick, London yesterday and through this Sunday morning, causing the airports to become severely congested and affecting thousands of travelers. British Airways operates direct flights from London to Costa Rica All checking and operational systems were affected by what they believe was ...

Costa Rican carrier Sansa, which runs mainly domestic flights within Costa Rica, experienced technical problems this morning when landing at the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela, according to reports in Costa Rica's main Spanish daily La Nación. The craft, which was carrying 13 passengers, went off the runway at around 9 a.m. The fire department and other emergency officials we...

Twenty flights were rerouted over the weekend from San José's International Airport (SJO) due to electrical problems. Civil Aviation Officials concluded that a combination of old wiring and lightening affected the electrical cables along the airport runway, causing them to malfunction Friday. The airport was then closed again Saturday evening as technicians attempted to solve the problem. Fo...

Costa Rica’s busiest airport, the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela, 20 minutes northwest of San José, has selected SITA to implement its ground-breaking control center technology solution. SITA, a global information technology provider to the air transport industry, will operate its ControlBridge which will provide Aeris Holdings, the airport operator, with a centralized ...

The expansion of the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste had been announced by the Costa Rica Tourism Institute since late 2016. The expansion involves 4,118 square meters (44,326 square feet) 17%, and is expected to be concluded in November this year. The work being done should increase the capacity of the Liberia Airport enabling the attention of at least 300 thousand m...

Copa Airlines announced they will offer the only nonstop direct airline service between Denver, Colorado and Panama, with convenient connections to more than 55 destinations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean through the airline’s Panama hub. The service will consist of four weekly flights between Denver and Panama beginning Dec. 11, 2017. Denver will be Copa's 13th U.S. de...

A technical failure in the communication systems at the Juan Santamaría Airport in Costa Rica, has forced the cancelation and suspension of several flights. The failure took place at 5 p.m. local time, when the communication between the control tower and the aircrafts was lost. Avianca, Volaris, Copa and two additional airlines have their scheduled flights in stand-by until the situation is ...

After several weeks of relative inactivity, Cartago's Turrialba Volcano started puffing out ash again starting a few days ago, reported the National University's Seismology and Volcanology Observatory (Ovsicori-UNA). Over the past several weeks, the volcano has been emitting vapor and gas, but very little ash, in what has become a fairly regular pattern for the Turrialbla - periods of calm punc...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) is taking part in the ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel show located at the Messe Convention Center in Berlin, Germany. Ground staff strikes at two Berlin airports on Friday forced airline operations to cancel 659 flights, according to official statements. Some 2,000 employees have been convoked to follow a 25-hour strike from 4:00 am local time (3.00 ...

Four new boarding gates, an airplane taxiway on the south side of the landing strip, a carousel for luggage and the expansion of the lobby are part of the projects that AERIS, the company in charge of the Juan Santamaría Airport since 2009, has planned. The airport will receive an investment of $100 million USD starting in May of this year and through the following two years, to improve its inf...

By Wendy Anders Costa Rican Transportation and Public Works Ministry is preparing for a big push on the expansion of the Virilla Bridge which connects San José with Cariari, Belén, Alajuela, the international SJO airport, and other westward points. Work to expand it from its current rough 4 lanes to an impressive, solid and wider 6-lane expanse is going to involve some further closures in up...

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.  By Britt Nelson Why did the alleged shooter at the Fort Lauderdale airport put down his gun, drop to the floor and give up to police unharmed? Did he simply run out of bullets or is there a bigger plan? This mass shooter didn’t shoot himself nor was h...

Havana, Jan. 6 — The U.S. airline Alaska Air began flying commercially to Cuba Thursday with daily flights linking Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California with the Cuban capital of La Havana, following the resumption of regular flights between the two countries in August 2016 after half a century. The new route makes Alaska Air the eighth airline authorized to operate regular flights to...

Miami, Jan. 6 — The man who fatally shot five people and wounded eight others Friday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) appears to have acted alone, authorities said, stressing that it was too early to say whether the motive was terrorism. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told a press conference at the scene that the shooter offered no resistance when officers arrested ...

By Wendy Anders Costa Rica’s Turrialba Volcano erupted at 5:50 a.m. today, Wednesday, January 4, sending a large plume of ash and gas westward as strong gusts of wind race out of the east across the country. Dozens of flights from mid-morning onward have been cancelled or delayed, but only on certain airlines, and the capital’s Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is open and function...