QCOSTARICA — The Minister of Tourism, William Rodriguez, his colleague from the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT), Luis Amador, and the director of Civil Aviation, Fernando Naranjo, have made public their concern about the conditions in which the Guanacaste Airport (the Daniel Oduber International Airport), in Liberia, Guanacaste, is operating.
The three officials consider that the growing flow of tourists is affecting the quality of the service provided in a terminal recognized mainly for receiving many of the country’s most “exclusive” visitors.
The reasons for concern are also evidenced by videos and photographs recently circulated on social networks.
Sum of complaints at a “collapsed” airport
One of the main concerns is the congestion and waiting conditions and times to check into and check out of the country experienced by tourists.
For his part, the MOPY minister said he is exploring the idea of creating an extra space at the airport in case of overcrowding caused by heavy traffic.
Read more: Guanacaste Airport awarded best airport for customer experience
Rodríguez explained that reports indicate the airport is now experiencing ‘heavy traffic’ at least four days a week, particularly on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays.
The Association of Airlines (ALA) states that the congestion is caused by inadequate infrastructure in luggage conveyor belts for transporting luggage to and from the aircraft.
The second concern is the high volume of tourists who disembark from planes using stairs to a location near the runway, traverse the grounds, and must queue outside the terminal (at times).
This is due to the fact that the “premium” airport lacks sufficient bridges to handle the high volume of aircraft coming in and going out.
Add to that the lack of air conditioning in some areas of the airport, in a region of the country that last week reached temperatures close to 40 Celsius.
Whose responsibility is it?
The administration of the airport is shared. Coriport, a private concessionaire, is in charge of what they call “land”, that is the operation of the terminal and the properties. While the MOPT and Civil Aviation, manage the “air”, which includes the runway and ramps.
This results in the parties consistently asking each other to meet their own obligations, as the actions of one have an impact on the other.
Although the airport’s general manager, César Jaramillo, recognizes that the flow of passengers has increased since 2021, in his opinion the operation is normal. He says he is aware of the quality that is required to be provided in this terminal and says that they are doing it.
“Although we have had good growth in 2021 to 2024 inclusive, we still have good capacity,” commented Jaramillo.
However, in his opinion, two specific situations are causing difficulties for him, which are unrelated to the administration itself.
- Lack of personnel from the Air Surveillance Service and Immigration Police that causes lines to form during peak hours
- The construction of the new runway by the MOPT has already begun, so they were forced to organize flights in a 12-hour window and no longer 20 hours because works take place from 9 pm to 9 am
The manager of Coriport recognizes that more investments must be made looking to the future, but maintains that a top-quality service continues to be provided.
The Minister of Tourism, William Rodríguez, does not agree with this.
With notes from Observador.cr
