Seven Local Airports in Costa Rica Will Receive Needed Repairs.

Despite Costa Rica’s small land area, traveling to the country’s far reaches from rural areas can take almost an entire day of driving due to numerous mountains and 2-lane roads. To facilitate domestic travel, local airlines hop from point to point, reducing an 8-hour journey to just 45 easy minutes. All this flying, though, has taken its toll on the country’s smaller airports, prompting the Costa Rica government to approve $20 million in repairs to seven airports around the nation.

Currently, most Costa Rica airports are in good conditions, requiring basic repairs to make arrivals and departures a faster, easier process for all involved. Airport repair approval was given between July 24 and 30, divvying up $20 million between airports in Nosara, Puerto Jiménez, Praismina, Tortuguero, Tobías Bolaños (Pavas, San José), Limón, and Daniel Odúber (Liberia). Money will be invested to make airports safer and more comfortable for both passengers and pilots.

The Civil Aviation Technical Authority will repair the runway bases and surfaces at all seven airports, replacing rough patches with concrete bricks. In Nosara (Nicoya & Guanacaste), Puerto Jiménez (Golfito), Parismina (southern Limón), and Tortuguero (northern Limón), they plan to reconstruct landing runways. In four airports, the Civil Aviation Technical Authority will build new perimeter fences, to help keep animals and people from accidentally wandering onto airport territory.

In Pavas, plans are to repave and resurface the Tobís Bolaños runways and roads. Another international airport to be revamped, located in the Caribbean’s Limón province, will receive new ground lighting, rebuilt road shoulders, and new water gutters. Rounding out the list’s international airports, Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport will receive runway repairs and upgrades, and better plane exit platforms, connecting more arriving airplanes directly to the airport.

In addition to the country’s $20 million airport investment, Costa Rica’s Vice Minister of Transportation announced that the country has received six new fire engines – four will be sent to the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela and the additional two are destined for Liberia’s Daniel Oduber International Airport. The new fire engines were received as part of an agreement with the International Civil Aviation Organization (OACI), and will pass through customs in September and October. Their total cost, approximately $5.6 million, was entirely financed by OACI.

With new ground lighting, new fences, and resurfaced and repaved runways and airport transportation roads, Costa Rica’s domestic and international airports promise to provide a smoother, safer, easier arrival to all of Costa Rica’s air-serviced destinations. For national travelers, better airports will promote additional domestic travel, encouraging trips to far-flung Corcovado, on the Osa Peninsula, and Golfito-area hotspots, close to the Pacific’s Panama border. It will also help to prevent weather-related closures, like the recent closure of the Tortuguero airport, which lead to the unreliable reputation of Costa Rica travel.

For weekend getaways or quick trips, check out the world’s first carbon-neutral airline, Costa Rica’s very own Nature Air (www.natureair.com), or the domestic Sansa (www.flysansa.com). In addition, maximize your spending power with Canatur’s special travel deals (http://www.canatur.org/promociones.aspx), which offer incredible discounts on many Costa Rica Hotels, tours, restaurants, and rental cars.

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Filed under: Travel on August 11th, 2008