QCOSTARICA – This Sunday, the Guanacaste Airport – a member of the VINCI Airports network – received the first of the daily flights from Southwest airlines, after more than a year of not offering the service due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The flight arrived at 12:51 pm with 145 passengers on board from Houston, Texas, as Southwest resumes operations to the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia (LIR), as it had done prior to the closing of borders last year.
“The restart of Southwest is great news for the region, we are doing things well and that translates into a confidence of the airlines in our market. This reinforces the position of the Guanacaste Airport since the recovery of traffic and operations continue to increase, offering high standards in customer service that has awarded us for the third consecutive year the award for Best Airport in our region.
“As a member of VINCI Airports, this allows us to collect the best practices from around the world and position ourselves as a leading airport in quality,” said César Jaramillo, General Manager of CORIPORT – the airport concessionaire.
Upon arrival, Southwest was greeted with the traditional water salute and passengers were presented with a gift with a face mask alluding to Guanacaste.
In addition to the daily flight from Houston Texas, starting next Saturday, June 12, there will be a weekly flight from Baltimore, Maryland.
“We are full of hope for the reactivation of Southwest airline operations to our two main air terminals offering strategic connections from Houston and Baltimore. This completes the return of all US airlines that flew to Costa Rica prior to the pandemic.
“The United States is represented by approximately 70% of international travelers, which is why the arrival of this airline is extremely significant to add to the generation of tourism employment and chains,” said Tourism Minister Gustavo Segura.
Southwest began service to Costa Rica in 2015 and chose the Liberia terminal as one of the first Central American destinations.
“We are excited to reintroduce Costa Rica to our international connection network and thus bring our clients to the warm and hospitable region of Guanacaste, this reflects what we intend to offer with each trip,” said Eleonor Pimentel, Regional Manager of International Operations from Southwest Airlines.
Tourists traveling to or from the Liberia airport no longer have to seek out a covid-19 testing center, they can be tested at the airport terminal facilities.