QCOSTARICA – This Saturday, December 19, the Liberia Airport in Guanacaste (LIR)received the new JetBlue flight from Los Angeles International Airport, California (LAX).
JetBlue is one of the eight airlines that returned to Costa Rica after the border closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jetblue’s maiden flight from Los Angeles landed in Liberia at 4:59 pm. In the course of the next few weeks, the airline will also resume flights from New York and Boston.
“This JetBlue airline flight from Los Angeles for the first time to Guanacaste lights up a light of hope for the tourism sector and is of enormous importance for this province and surrounding areas grossly affected by the pandemic,” said Gustavo J. Segura, Minister of Tourism.
The Minister stressed the importance of the state of California for Costa Rica, as it concentrates a significant amount of the tourist that the country seeks: with a high educational level, interested in nature, in knowing the culture of the destinations they visit and in unique experiences.
Additionally, since December 18, flights from the John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport in New York were resumed, with four flights weekly.
In the case of the direct route from Boston-Costa Rica and vice versa, it will be once a week.
Guanacaste Tourism
The Guanacaste Airport (Daniel Oduber International Airport) estimates that passenger traffic will double in December compared to November 2020 that recorded 15,802 passengers.
Currently, eight airlines have already resumed operations to and from the Guanacaste Airport, and this strengthens the reactivation of the economy of the province that depends on tourism.
For January 8 and 9, 2021, Coriport, the terminal administrator, plans to open two new routes from Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively.
“The opening of new routes from Los Angeles and San Francisco is another very important step since these cities are where a large number of American tourists come from, so we are directly connecting Guanacaste with the markets that most appeal to this destination,” added César Jaramillo, general manager of Coriport.
The United States is historically the main source of tourists to Costa Rica. During 2019, more than half of the tourists who entered came from the U.S.
In 2019, more foreign exchange was generated from tourism, a total of US$3.97 billion in foreign currency, according to ICT records. In addition, it employed 219,000 people directly and some 400,000 indirectly.
To enter Costa Rica, visitors must continue to meet the covid-19 requirements that, among other things, include medical insurance and a completed Health Pass.
