Houston Company to Administer Costa Rica International Airport

Written by Mireille

Airport Renovation Delays to End
The Juan Santamaría Airport Renovations to be Administered by the Houston Airport System.

The company that has been in charge of administration of the Juan Santamaria Airport since 2001, Alterra Partners, has decided to sell its contractual duties to the Houston Airport System (HAS). HAS, which is based in Texas, will work hand in hand with ADC management from Canada, and Andrade Gutiérrez Concesiones (AGC), from Brazil to complete the renovations that have been pending due to financial issues. These new syndicates will have to start from scratch, in an effort finish the modernization and construction of San Jose’s only international airport, located in Alajuela.

HAS, which operates in Houston, saw some 43 million passengers pass through its airport in 2007, while Juan Santamaría only saw 3 million. It is hoped that HAS will therefore have no problem managing the airport here, and sorting out the embarrassing mess that has caused the never ending delay of airport renovations.

Alterra hopes that the sale of the contract will help to generate sufficient income to finish the work that has came to a stand still last January. Last year, Alterra’s partners failed to bring in the financial support they counted on and as a result, construction simply stopped. As if this was not enough, since March 2003, the Corporacion Financiera Internacional, the creditors of the project, stopped lending money to Alterra, stating that the project would not generate sufficient funds to cover the debt.

According to an email sent by Alterra, there will be no change of company, and no change of staff, who have already been informed of the changes. The email emphasizes that the personnel has proved to be more than capable of completing the task and that they are a team of professional individuals of the highest standards.

These changes are not going to happen overnight however, and it could take months before work starts again. Once the Consejo Tecnico de Aviacion Civil (The Board of Civil Aviation) and the Controlaria de la Republica (the government) have approved, HAS will either have to provide its own capital, or obtain a $48 million loan in order to finish the work.

The new immigration and customs building is one of the constructions that came to a halt. More duty free shops are planned, as well as more space for the airline check-in desks. The boarding accommodations are also lacking in space and number. Many parts of the airport still look shabby, with loose fold-up chairs replacing real furniture, and a lack of space for the large number of visitors that pass through on a daily basis.

In a country that relies so much on tourism, let’s hope that they manage to get their act together and they can be proud of the airport that receives the largest number of flights to Costa Rica, as this is where the tourists get their first impression of the country. After all, first impressions always leave their marks!

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