News

Juan Santamaría International Airport recovers and exceeds passenger traffic recorded before the pandemic.

• In the first quarter of 2023, the country’s main air terminal handled more than 1.5 million passengers.
• The positive trend was sustained during Easter Week with an increase of more than 20% compared to 2019.

 April, 2023. The recovery of passenger traffic at Juan Santamaría International Airport (AIJS) not only resumed pre-pandemic levels, but also surpassed them. This because during the first quarter of the year there was a 2.4% growth compared to 2019.

“We have ensured that the economic recovery through tourism is a reality; since months ago we have reported how close we have been to resume the pre-pandemic figures, and three years after the arrival of Covid-19 to our country, which implied, among many impacts, the temporary closure of our borders, we can already say that we reached and exceeded that recovery. This responds to the joint work with the Government authorities that has been carried out”, expressed Ricardo Hernández, general director of AERIS, interested manager of the Juan Santamaría International Airport.

Between January and March 2023, Juan Santamaría International Airport has handled 1,529,914 inbound and outbound passengers. In addition to the recovery if compared to 2019, when pairing this period with that of 2022, a growth of 30.8% is reflected.

Together with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), work is being carried out to position Costa Rica as an attractive tourist destination, which, thanks to this report, shows that it has borne fruit

“The Investment Attraction Unit has been working in coordination with AERIS to attract more seats to Costa Rica. Thanks to this work, the positioning of the Esencial Costa Rica brand and the support of the private sector, we see a steady growth in tourist arrivals and new routes to Juan Santamaria Airport,” said Hermes Navarro, head of Investment Attraction of the ICT.

Future outlook. There is a good omen regarding the behavior of passenger traffic in the coming months.

An example of this is the first week of April, Easter Week, in which there was an increase of more than 20% in incoming and outgoing passengers in relation to 2019.

The focus of working towards recovery now will be for the permanence of these figures.

Therefore, despite the fact that the offer for passengers is wide, thanks to the work articulated with the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Airport Police, the Association of Airlines (ALA), the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) and the efforts of the airport community, we are thinking of expanding the range of flight options.

“We currently connect Costa Rica with 35 destinations around the world through 25 international and two domestic commercial airlines, and in 2023, in order to continue as the gateway to pure life experiences, we will continue to participate in meetings with airlines through the most prestigious fairs worldwide, which will allow us to increase trade relations and, therefore, opportunities for passengers,” said Hernandez.

About AERIS Costa Rica

AERIS HOLDING COSTA RICA is a company of the CCR Group, which operates under the management model interested in the Juan Santamaría International Airport (AIJS), being in charge of its operation, maintenance, rehabilitation, construction, financing and promotion.

The company seeks to exceed the expectations of its stakeholder management contract in a transversal manner to sustainability, generating social, environmental and economic value. AERIS is committed to providing a “Pura Vida” travel experience for passengers transiting through the main gateway to the country and to generate positive impact to Costa Rica and its stakeholders.

AERIS draws on the experience of its parent companies: HAS Development Corporation and Grupo CCR of Brazil, the latter as the main shareholder and with stakes in the international airports of Quito Ecuador, Curacao and Belo Horizonte in Brazil.

It currently connects Costa Rica with 36 destinations around the world, through 25 international commercial airlines and two domestic airlines that operate in its facilities.