Juan Santamaría International Airport

For the airport in San Jose, California, see Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.
Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)
Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría
IATA: SJO – ICAO: MROC
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Government of Costa Rica
Operator Aeris Holdings Costa Rica under ADC & HAS and Andrade Gutiérrez Concesores
Serves San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago
Location Alajuela Province
Hub for
Focus city for
Elevation AMSL 921 m / 3,022 ft
Coordinates 09°59′38″N 084°12′32″W / 9.99389°N 84.20889°W / 9.99389; -84.20889Coordinates: 09°59′38″N 084°12′32″W / 9.99389°N 84.20889°W / 9.99389; -84.20889
Website www.fly2sanjose.com
Map
MROC

Location in Costa Rica

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 3,012 9,882 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 4,316,279
Passenger change 14–15 Increase15.5%
Aircraft movements 79,441
Movements change 14–15 Increase4.1%
Source: Costa Rican AIP,[1] DGAC[2]

Juan Santamaría International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría) (IATA: SJO, ICAO: MROC) is the primary airport serving San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located near the city of Alajuela, 20 km (12 miles) west of downtown San José. It is named after Costa Rica's national hero, Juan Santamaría, a courageous drummer boy who died in 1856 defending his country against forces led by US-American filibuster William Walker.

The airport is hub of local airline Nature Air and Sansa Airlines, and focus city airport for Copa Airlines and Avianca. It was the country's only international gateway for many years, but nowadays there is also an international airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. Both airports have direct flights to North and Central America and Europe, with the difference that Juan Santamaría International Airport also serves cities in South America and the Caribbean.

The airport's main runway allows for operations of large, widebody aircraft. Currently, some scheduled flights are operated with Airbus A330 and A340, and Boeing 747, 767 and 777, for both passengers and freight. A Concorde landed in 1999 for that year's airshow.[3] The airport has also a small hangar (called the "NASA" hangar) where research aircraft are kept that operate in Costa Rica[4] including the Martin B-57 Canberra high altitude aircraft. (This hangar has since been removed as the mission was completed.)[5]

Juan Santamaría International Airport was once the busiest airport in Central America, but currently it is ranked second after Tocumen International Airport in Panamá. In 2015, Juan Santamaría International Airport received 4.3 million passengers (international flights only). In 2011, the airport was named the 3rd Best Airport in Latin America - Caribbean from the Airport Service Quality Awards by Airports Council International[6]

History

The airport was built to replace the previous one in downtown San Jose where Parque La Sabana is located today.[7] Funding was secured by the government in 1951 [8] and construction proceed slowly until it was officially inaugurated on May 2, 1958.[9] It was initially called "Aeropuerto Internacional el Coco" after its location of the same name in the province of Alajuela. It would later be renamed in honor of Juan Santamaría. In 1961 funding was secured to build the highway that connects the airport to downtown San José.[10]

No major changes were made to the terminal until November 1997 when the government issued a decree requesting participation of private companies to manage the operations of the airport.[11] After a few years of legal challenges and contract negotiations Alterra Partners was given a 20-year concession and started managing the facilities in May 2001.[11] It was also expected that the company would finish the necessary expansion and construction of new facilities, however in March 2002 Alterra announced it would cease any further construction due to disagreements over financing and airport use fee billing with the government.[12] The dispute was extended for a few years and problems started at the terminal; in 2005 the International Civil Aviation Organization pointed out that the airport did not comply with safety regulations.[9]

In July 2009 Alterra yielded the contract to a consortium composed of Houston-based Canadian-American company ADC & HAS and the Brazilian company, Andrade Gutierrez Concessoes (AGC) - subsidiary of the conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez.[13] In December 2009 Alterra Partners changed its name to AERIS Holdings, S.A.[13] In November 2010 Aeris announced it had finished the expansion and construction of new facilities with the installation of the 9th boarding bridge.[14]

Ground transportation

The road access to the airport is on an exit at Route 1, and near the exit to Alajuela. There is a parking area with surcharge, plus a bus stop with plenty of services to San Jose downtown (with no exact schedule but with 24-hours bus service and approximately one service every 10 minutes during working hours). Licensed taxis are available in the airport and will generally accept both colones and U.S. dollars, but not other currencies. Costa Rican taxis are red with yellow triangles on the doors, ubiquitous all over the country, plus there is a special airport taxi service that is licensed and employs orange taxis.

Terminals and lounges

Main Terminal [M]

The major operator in the airport is Avianca, followed by Copa Airlines. The following airlines have scheduled direct services to and/or from Juan Santamaría International Airport (as of May 2013):

Domestic Terminal [D]

Sansa Airlines and Nature Air flights depart from the Domestic Terminal.

VIP lounges

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinationsTerminal
Aeroméxico Mexico City M
Air Canada Rouge Toronto–Pearson
Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau (begins December 22, 2016) [15] 		M
Air France Seasonal: Paris-Charles de Gaulle (begins 2 November 2016) M
Air Panama David, Panama City-Albrook M
Air Transat Seasonal: Montréal–Trudeau, Toronto–Pearson M
Alaska Airlines Los Angeles M
Albatros Airlines Caracas M
American Airlines Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami
Seasonal: Phoenix–Sky Harbor 		M
Avianca Costa Rica Bogotá, Guatemala City, Lima, Managua, Panama City, San Salvador
Seasonal:Los Angeles, New York–JFK, Cancún Toronto–Pearson 		M
Avianca Guatemala Guatemala City, San Andrés, Tegucigalpa M
Avianca El Salvador San Salvador M
British Airways London-Gatwick[16] M
Condor Frankfurt
Seasonal: Munich (begins 7 November 2016)[17] 		M
Copa Airlines Guatemala City, Managua, Panama City, Tegucigalpa M
Copa Airlines Colombia Guatemala City, Panama City M
Cubana de Aviación Havana M
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Los Angeles
Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York–JFK 		M
Iberia Madrid M
Interjet Mexico City M
JetBlue Airways Fort Lauderdale, Orlando–International M
KLM Seasonal: Amsterdam (begins 8 November 2016) M
Nature Air Bocas del Toro, Drake Bay, Golfito, La Fortuna, Liberia, Limón, Managua, Nosara, Puerto Jimenez, Punta Islita, Quepos, Tamarindo, Tambor, Tortuguero M
Sansa Airlines Costa Esmeralda, Drake Bay, Golfito, La Fortuna, Liberia, Limón, Palmar Sur, Puerto Jimenez, Quepos, San Isidro, Tamarindo, Tambor, Tortuguero D
Southwest Airlines Baltimore, Houston–Hobby M
Spirit Airlines Fort Lauderdale, Houston–Intercontinental M
United Airlines Chicago–O'Hare, Houston–Intercontinental, Newark, Washington–Dulles
Seasonal: Denver [18] 		M
Veca Airlines San Salvador M
Volaris Cancún, Guadalajara M
WestJet Seasonal: Toronto–Pearson M

Cargo

|UPS Airlines | Miami |

Passenger, aircraft and cargo traffic results

Juan Santamaria International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Costa Rica, having experienced a constant increase in traffic since its opening in 1958, boosted by the growing flow of tourists. The airport reached the million passenger for the first time in 1991 and it has been serving more than four million passengers yearly since 2007. On the other hand, domestic passenger have been relatively steady since the beginning, on an average of 200,000 passengers per year and reaching a peak of 330,000 in 1975.

Top international destinations

Busiest international routes from SJO (Jan. 2014 – Dec. 2014)[19]
Rank Airport Passengers Change 2013/2014 Carriers
1 Panama City, Panama 548,141 Increase8.2% Avianca, Copa
2 Houston, United States 491,993 Increase14.0% Spirit, United
3 Miami, United States 454,780 Decrease10.2% American Airlines
4 Atlanta, United States 341,683 Increase5.4% Delta
5 San Salvador, El Salvador 270,766 Decrease5.9% Avianca, Veca
6 Mexico City, Mexico 240,150 Decrease2.7% Aeroméxico, Interjet
7 Guatemala City, Guatemala 208,515 Increase6.5% Avianca, Copa
8 Madrid, Spain 194,551 Increase12.5% Iberia
9 Newark, United States 192,703 Decrease8.7% United
10 Fort Lauderdale, United States 168,123 Increase4.4% Jetblue, Spirit

Accidents and incidents

Pictures

See also

References

  1. ↑ AIP - Part 3 Aerodromes
  2. ↑ (Spanish) Resumen Estadístico 2015 (Cifras Preliminares)
  3. ↑ Delgado, Edgar (1999-01-28). "Concorde impuso récord". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  4. ↑ Ponchner, Debbie (2005-07-02). "Hoy despega de suelo tico la misión TCSP de la NASA". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  5. ↑ Ponchner, Debbie (2007-05-05). "NASA realizará gran misión científica desde suelo tico". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  6. ↑ "ASQ Award for Best Airport in Latin America - Caribbean" Airports Council International. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-13
  7. ↑ Calvo, Rodrigo (2011-03-27). "Los mil rostros de La Sabana". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  8. ↑ "En primber debate fueron aprobados el Arancel de Aduanas y la Ley de Pagos Internacionales". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica). 1951-11-26.
  9. 1 2 Rojas, Ronny (2008-07-09). "El Santamaría incumple normas de seguridad". Al Dia (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  10. ↑ "Hace 50 años, Sábado 11 de marzo de 1961". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica). 2011-03-11.
  11. 1 2 Feigenblatt, Hazel (2001-05-05). "Aeropuerto a manos privadas hoy". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  12. ↑ Loaiza, Vanessa (2002-03-15). "Suspenden obras en aeropuerto". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  13. 1 2 Loaiza, Vanessa (2009-12-04). "BID presta $45 millones para ampliar Juan Santamaría". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  14. ↑ Loaiza, Vanessa (2010-11-10). "Concluye modernización de aeropuerto Santamaría". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  15. ↑ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/air-canada-rouge-gears-up-for-winter-2016-2017-with-new-non-stop-flights-montreal-to-puerto-vallarta-mexico-and-san-jos-costa-rica-toronto-to-palm-springs-ca-and-port-of-spain-trinidad-and- tobago-2016-04-20?mod=mw_share_facebook
  16. ↑ "New flight routes and destinations from British Airways". British Airways. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  17. ↑ http://www.routesonline.com/news/29/breaking-news/253423/condor-expands-in-the-americas-with-new-frankfurt-and-munich-winter-links/
  18. ↑ "United Airlines confirms Costa Rica-Denver seasonal flights starting in December". Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  19. ↑ (Spanish)"Anuario Estadístico de Transporte Aéreo 2014" (PDF). dgac.go.cr. Retrieved 2016-05-01.

External links

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