QCOSTARICA – The plane that brought the Saudi Arabian delegation to the transfer of power this Sunday, May 8, broke the record for the longest flight to reach Costa Rica.
Monday, the Asociación Costarricense de Aeronáutica (Costa Rican Aeronautical Association), with exclusive data from the Juan Santamaría airport, confirmed that the Saudia, formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, Boeing 777-300ER took off from the city of Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea, traveled a distance of 12,903 kilometers to the Juan Santamaria (San Jose) international airport in Alajuela, in 17 hours of flight.
The president of the Association and retired pilot, Luis Fernando Bruno, said that it is the first time that an airplane has flown directly from the East to Costa Rica.
“The crew was totally Arab. Although it is true that it is a plane of the national airline of Saudi Arabia, it has its differences, among them the logo that was of another color and also inside it is super VIP, with a lot of incredible luxuries,” explained Bruno.
Bruno indicated that the aircraft, with a range capacity of 17,500 kilometers and 500 passengers, is one of Saudia’s most modern.
Bruno added that for these types of long flights, two or more pilots take turns making the trip, since none can fly for more than eight hours, according to international regulations.
The president of the Costa Rican Aeronautical Association pointed out that the previous record was that of a Boeing 747-400 of the Belarusian cargo airline Rubystar Airways and traveled a total of 12,449 kilometers, from the Jabarovsk Novy airport, in Russia, to the Juan Santamaria, on May 8, 2021