The international airport in the capital of Costa Rica, will be too small to meet the air traffic needs of Costa Rica in the next 10 years. In 1996 the U.S. consultancy firm TAMS Inc. "recommended the Civil Aviation authority to move the administration of Juan Santamaria Airport into private hands, while a new terminal was being built", which should be operational in 2020. Nacion.com reports...

On offer in Juan Santamaria International Airport are spaces for a gift shop, an ice cream parlor and coffee shop, a fast food outlet, and spaces for ATMs. Aeris Holding Costa Rica, the company managing the Juan Santamaria Airport, has opened a contest for 3 commercial spaces: a gift shop, with flowers, cards and other items, an ice cream parlor and coffee shop, selling juices and the like, and...

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...

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...

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...

Plans to develop  Costa Rica's new international airport are currently being considered. According to business daily La Republica, the new airport should begin operations in the year 2026. On that same year, the management contract now held by Aeris Holdings over the Juan Santamaria International Airport in Alajuela will come to an end. A New Location Preliminary studies by civil aviatio...