AirFrance began operating as of this week direct flights between Paris, France and Juan Santamaría Airport (SJO) in Costa Rica; the first flight will land in the afternoon of Wednesday, November 2 and will be received by Costa Rica’s president Luis Guillermo Solís.

The service will be offered twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday),in a Boeing 777-300 with capacity for 468 people, the biggest commercial plane providing service to Costa Rica.

This direct flight hopes to raise the interest of European tourists in visiting Costa Rica. Aside from this route, the country has other direct flights with Europe: Iberia (from Madrid, Spain), British Airways (from London, UK) and Condor (from Frankfurt and Munich, Germany). A direct flight between Zurich, Switzerland and San José, Costa Rica is expected to start in May of next year, also with a frequency of two days a week and operated by Edelweiss Air.

According to the company’s website a round trip between Paris and San José has an approximate cost of $798.00

According to official data, last year 393 thousand European tourists visited Costa Rica, 6.1 % more than the 2015 period.

Air France began operations in 1933 and became part of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines since 2004. It offers service to 320 destinations in 114 countries along with sister brands: Royal Dutch airlines, Transavia and Hop!

In Latin America and the Caribbean Air France offers direct flights to 27 destinations, among these: Cancun, Bogota, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

Tourism industry headlines the country’s service exports, representing a 48% of this indicator; it employees 600 thousand people directly and indirectly, an equivalent to 27% of the work force.