By Wendy Anders In January expansion work is slated to begin at the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, said the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) this week. The terminal’s upgrade will cost an estimated US$10.3 million and will be ready in November. The new facilities are expected to give the airport sufficient capacity to handle the rise in passengers over the next 5 years...

By Wendy Anders Initial conceptual design of the proposed future international airport in Orotina off of Route 27 on the way to the Pacific coast. A delegation of aeronautical experts from South Korea gave a training to their Costa Rican counterparts as the country starts the lengthy process of establishing a new international airport in Orotina, Puntarenas. "Korea and Costa Rica are two...

Panama's aviation rating has plunged since 2005 with failures  in procedures and regulations, reported the online English news media in Panama, Newsroom Panama, yesterday. Panama's flag. The disturbing report comes from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) which audited the country in 2015. On inspection, the Panamanian air system earned a score of 36.4 points out of a hu...

By Wendy Anders This morning, Colombia's low-budget regional Wingo airline joins a growing number of regional flight options available out of Costa Rica when it touches down for the first time in the country with passengers from Panama. After an inaugural celebration at the Juan Santamaría Airport (SJO) in Alajuela, roughly 15 miles west of San José, passengers will then board for a flight t...

By Wendy Anders The low-budget Mexican airline Volaris will launch its regional flights in and out of Costa Rica today, reported La Republica, a Costa Rican Spanish newspaper. Volaris will start its service by offering two daily flights to Guatemala from Alajuela's Juan Santamaría (SJO) airport; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Over the next three years the airline plans t...

More than 100 new Costa Rica artisan products will be sold at the new El Mercadito store in the Juan Santamaria International Airport. The articles offered in this store include clothes, articles for house decoration, costume jewelry, among others, which are manufactured by 97 families in poverty situation. The new store will generate supply chains and employment for around 350 people that are ...

Update: Hurricane Otto had already strengthen to a category 2 hurricane early this Thursday morning and affected certain areas in Costa Rica with heavy rain. As of 11:15 a.m. Costa Rica time Hurricane Otto hit land in Bluefields, Nicaragua, north of Isla Calero in Costa Rica with wind forces almost reaching a category 3 hurricane. Experts expect Otto will lose strength and will degrade to a tropic...

In view of the alert in Costa Rica due to Otto storm/hurricane, Avianca, Lacsa, and Albatros airlines had to cancel eight of their flights to and from Costa Rica, Juan Santamaria Airport. Flights with destinations: San Andres, Bogota, Guatemala and Venezuela were cancelled by the airlines and they have informed travelers that those who already had a ticket will not be charged additional fees to...

By Wendy Anders Wikimedia Commons In contrast to most European Union members who are tightening entry requirements for visitors, the United Kingdom just announced they are expanding their list of countries eligible for fast-track entry to include 12 Latin American countries, reported BBC Mundo. Rolando Drago, Chile’s Ambassador to the UK, was one of the main protagonists of the recent mo...

By Wendy Anders Source: Southwest Airlines This morning Southwest Airlines announced a sale for select flights to the Caribbean and Central American region. The sale is for tickets purchased from Tuesday, October 4 to Thursday, October, 6 (11:59 p.m.). Rates apply for international non-stop travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from November 30 through December 13, 2016, and January 10 th...

Starting today and through October 11 Avianca airline is offering special rates to travel this end of the year and beginning of 2017 to selected destinations in the U.S.A. Ticket prices start at USD $399, purchase must be made before October 11th,2016 (or until spaces are sold out) and you can travel between December 1st ,2016 and January 31st, 2017 and it applies for flights leaving from the J...

By Wendy Anders 11:30 am eruption of Turrialba Volcano, Sept. 19, 2016. Ovsicori-UNA Cartago province’s Turrialba Volcano, which neighbors the densely populated San José, Costa Rica metropolitan area, had four intense eruptions yesterday, Monday, September 19, emitting abundant clouds of ash and spewing incandescent rocks. The eruption continued throughout the night and during all of today,...

By Wendy Anders Facebook photo of NatureAir plane at Pavas airport. Workers have been scrambling to clear ash from Costa Rica’s main international airport, the Juan Santamaría (SJO). Runways, landing strips and outdoor accesses to the boarding gates were cleared sufficiently by 12:05 p.m. today to allow for the airport to be opened, reported aviation officials to the press. Civil Aviatio...

By Wendy Anders 11:30 am eruption of Turrialba Volcano, Sept. 19, 2016. Ovsicori-UNA Costa Rica's main international airport near the capital city of San José is scheduled to reopen today, Tuesday, September 20, at 11:00 a.m., said Gabriela Hernández in the airport operations department. All passengers with flights this morning should contact their airline directly to find out details re...

By Wendy Anders Turrialba Volcano eruption on September 17, 2016, Ovsicori-UNA. This morning's 11:30 Turrialba Volcano eruption was estimated to have reached 4,000 ms above the volcano's crater, and another apparently similar eruption which is still underway hours later, began at around 3:34 this afternoon, reported the National University's Volcanology and Seismology Research Institute (Ov...

By Wendy Anders Source: International Living Want to avoid weekend traffic? Craving a quick rainy season trip to the beach? Try taking a Cessna to your favorite beach or mountain getaway on SANSA airline. Costa Rica’s domestic airline, SANSA, announced an special Costa Rican independence-month deal during September for residents (with a valid residency card) and Costa Rican nationals. ...

Santa Clara, Cuba, Aug 31.- The first regularly scheduled commercial flight between the United States and Cuba since 1961 landed today, Wednesday, August 31, at this central city's Abel Santamaria airport at 10:57 a.m. local time (1457 GMT). U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuba's President Raul Castro shake hands during their first meeting on the second day of Obama's visit to Cuba, in Havan...

Source: Spirit The low tourism season in Costa Rica tends to create some extremely affordable deals on air travel, and this year is no exception. According to a recent query on Fly.com, an airfare search engine that makes looking for airfares both quick and easy, round-trip flights to Costa Rica are as low as $133 per traveler on Spirit Airlines. The search parameters are as follows: D...

Source: SWAmedia.com FareCompare.com has released a second set of findings based on a comprehensive analysis of the Southwest Effect in new international routes. The study reveals that while consumers traveling to the U.S. did experience the Southwest Effect initially, those average lowest fares have since increased, returning to the levels they were prior to Southwest's foray into those marke...

By Wendy Anders Source: Flickr PLEASE SEE SALES FOR OCTOBER 4TH HERE Airfarewatchdog.com announced today a one-day 99 percent discount on Spirit Airway round trip flights from several U.S. cities including Atlanta, Boston, and Minneapolis for Tuesday and Wednesday travel between Aug. 23 - Oct. 5, 2016 (Sept. 6 is a blackout date). Book this fare on Spirit.com using promo code 99PCT. ...

By Wendy Anders At ten this morning, the country’s public service regulator, Roberto Jiménez, received taxi sector leaders as they demanded to be heard one more time on the issue of Uber’s legality in the country. Jiménez reiterated that his agency, the Aresep, has done everything in its power to regulate public transportation services, and that any further decisions are pending court decisi...

By Wendy Anders The bridge over the Virilla River along the main highway leading from San José to Alajuela’s international airport was partially closed last night from 10:00 until 5:00 this morning for repairs. All traffic from Alajuela to San José was completely closed during that time. Thursday night-Friday morning, all traffic from San José-Alajuela on the main highway’s Virilla bridge wi...

(Archive / Delta Airlines) Delta Airlines, the second-largest carrier in the United States, said Monday that it fixed the technical problems that caused massive flight delays and cancellations, and was restoring service slowly around the world. "A Delta ground stop has been lifted and limited departures are resuming following a power outage in Atlanta that impacted Delta computer systems an...

By Wendy Anders Canada’s low-fare leader WestJet announced last week it will add dozens of new flights to its growing domestic and international networks as part of its 2016-2017 winter schedule. New flights will run from Toronto to a number of Canadian and international destinations including Vancouver, Ottawa, Moncton, Myrtle Beach, Aruba, Kingston (Jamaica), San José and Liberia (Costa Ri...

Wikimedia Commons Virgin America Inc. today announced that the merger agreement with Alaska Air Group, Inc., the parent company of Alaska Airlines, Inc., was approved by an affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Virgin America voting common stock. A report reflecting the complete voting results will be available on a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed la...

By Wendy Anders Tax inspection police discovered two spotted, wriggling banana lizards this morning in a review of courier packages arriving from outside Costa Rica at the Juan Santamaría Airport in Alajuela. “This is the first time live animals have been found entering the country via a courier service. We are concerned not only about the fact that animals are being shipped between countrie...

TRT English Twitter Suicide-bombings Tuesday at Istanbul's Atatürk airport left 36 people dead and 120 wounded, Turkish public television network TRT said Among the dead are five police officers, TRT's English service reported. Istanbul Gov. Vasip Sahin said earlier that the assault was carried out by three suicide terrorists. The explosions occurred around 9:30 p.m., TRT said. An ...

By Wendy Anders Zurich, Switzerland is the latest European destination to offer a direct flight to San José, Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO). Starting May 2017, Edelweiss Air will offer twice-weekly non-stop service on Tuesday and Friday, the airline stated in a press release last week.  Edelweiss is a member of the Lufthansa Group and an affiliate of Swiss Internati...

(Illustrative image. Courtesy Thomson Airways) Over the last few months, the tourism industry of Costa Rica has enjoyed an increase of British and European visitors thanks to the inauguration of two flights from London, but officials fear that this joy will be diminished by Brexit. The people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, which means that European tourists can no ...

Despite a Presidential Decree issued last week, the exit tax charged at Costa Rica airports for international travelers will remain at $29. The Decree seeks to increase the airport exit tax by $2, which will benefit the National Animal Welfare Service (Spanish acronym: SENASA), a government entity.   According to a news report by Fernando Muñoz of national radio station Monumental 93.5 ...

Source: Southwest Airlines DALLAS, June 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is launching a three-day domestic and international sale offering extra low fares for fall travel, so grab your ticket and go!  Customers may take advantage of low domestic fares starting at $49, $79, $99, and $129 one-way to select destinations today through Thursday, June 9, 2016, 11:59 p.m...

Photo: Activist Sergio Castillo, Twitter Mexico City, Jun 3 (EFE).- Police reinforced several points of the Mexican capital Friday to prevent hundreds of protesting teachers from following through on a threat to march to the international airport serving this metropolis, EFE confirmed. More than 4,000 police were taking part in the operation launched early Friday to contain the teachers, wh...

Bull shark. Wikimedia Commons DALLAS, June 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) is partnering once again with Discovery Channel's Shark Week, taking television's longest-running and most anticipated summer event to new heights.  Today, the companies unveiled the first-ever Shark Week-themed 737-700 aircraft proudly displaying the majestic sea life that is widely cel...

Source: Air France French culture is known to be classy and stylish, and these are cultural aspects that certainly apply to travel. Air France, an airline that recently announced new flights to Costa Rica, is taking classy and stylish to a very high level with an actual sleeping suite and even fashionable pajamas that match the decor. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, Air Franc...

Passengers of Delta flight 325, which departed from Atlanta, were eager to land at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) yesterday; alas, the most active volcano in Costa Rica forced the aircraftto land in Nicaragua instead. The ash column rising out of the Turrialba volcano, located in the Cartago province, has reached heights of 3,000 meters as the colossus releases geological energ...

The following alert was recently posted on the flight operations webpage of U.S. budget airline JetBlue: Due to volcanic ash in the San Jose, Costa Rica area, we will waive change/cancel fees and difference in airfare for customers traveling on Friday, May 20, 2016 through Saturday, May 21, 2016 to/from the following airports: -San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO) Affected customers may rebook their ...

File photo BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired) - It's a perfect storm for summer travelers, and it has nothing to do with the weather. A combination of a strong dollar, lower fuel prices and more competition from discount airlines has conspired to create the lowest airfares we've seen in the past five years. Cheapflights.com, the online leader in finding and publishing travel deals, took a look at ai...

This September, fans of luxury travel will be able to fly to Costa Rica and other hot tourism destinations around the world aboard their own private jet. The Four Seasons Extraordinary Adventures package now includes Costa Rica in the itinerary, and this is how the luxury travel brand describes this special vacation package: Experience some of the world’s most remarkable destinations on our custo...

SJO on April 27 The second day of the Mother of All Strikes (MOAS) in Costa Rica caused headaches for passengers at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), which serves the Greater San Jose Metropolitan Area (Spanish initials: GAM). Access to SJO via the main highway that connects the airport with San Jose was blocked by MOAS protestors who marched in the vicinity of the San Rafael...

Source: Wikimedia Commons MONTREAL, April 20, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada announced today it will launch four new seasonal Air Canada rouge services between Montreal-Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Montreal-San José, Costa Rica; Toronto Palm Springs, California; and Toronto-Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The non-stop flights will give Canadian travelers more competitively-priced options when ...