Costa Rican government is undecided as to whether to continue with the current expansion project or to construct an entirely new terminal.
In October 2008 the government of Oscar Arias awarded the airport expansion project to the Coriport consortium. In May this year the same government approved a plan to build a new terminal located to the west of the existing one.
The process is expected to cost more than the $8 million required to certify AIES airport.
On December 2009, AIES international airport was certified as compliant with international security standards. This enticed CEPA, the airport administration authority, to start the certification process for another international airport: Ilopango.
"Based on the experience of certifying AIES, CEPA and AAC (Air Travel Authority) agree that certifying Ilopango will require more money and time", reported Laprensagrafica.com. "Certifying AIES under international standards required 5 years and $8 million".
AIES, the International Airport of El Salvador, earned the certification of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
It is the first Central American airport to receive this certification; the airports of Panama and Nicaragua are currently in the process of getting it.
"No airport in the world operates without a permit, but this certification will boost AIES, as ICAO communicates which airports comply with its standards.
Boeing completed a critical design review for Required Navigation Performance procedures (RNP) in work at Panama's Tocumen and Howard Airports.
The critical design review, which took place at the Copa Airlines training center in Panama City, assesses the "fly-ability" of the procedures and ensures compatibility with airline crew procedures. RNP uses global-positioning satellites and onboard flight-management systems to guide airplanes accurately along precise flight paths.
It will require an investment of $7 million, and will be located in the southern Caribbean coast, close to Costa Rica.
Operations are scheduled to start in 2011, serving local flights as well as connections to Colombia, Costa Rica and Panamá.
"The airport will be located in the Greytom community, in the San Juan de Nicaragua municipality, near the outfall of San Juan river...", published website Laverdad.com, and "will include an airstrip 1.200 meters long and 23 meters wide, a control tower, a 600 square meter central office and a firefighting station...".
The only runway at the International Airport of the Honduran capital will have its premiere in a few days, with an expansion of 150 meters in addition to another 150 meters in security zones at the airport.
The security of air operations at this airport has been much questioned, exactly for the basic issue of the length of its runway, which was a contributing factor to the cause of the TACA accident where, on May 30th of last year, [the plane] overran the end of the runway, crashing against the bank of a highway and causing the death of 5 people.
President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras said he has decided to maintain the Toncontín Airport at Tegucigalpa closed to aircraft carrying more than 42 passengers.
He made the decision despite a report from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) saying the runways would be safe for aircraft carrying up to 170 passengers.
A commission will determine next Tuesday the way in which the airport will meet the recommendations made by the ICAO to improve safety conditions at the airport.
The preliminary report of the International Civil Aviation Association says that Toncontín airport at Tegucigalpa meets the requirements to operate, with few difficulties for companies approaching the runways.
Aircraft with capacity of 170 passengers or less will soon be able to land again at the airport. The safety rules are not very different from those adopted as internal policy by many airlines, the ICAO report said.
The Honduras Government and the business community reached agreement on re-opening the Toncontín International Airport, once the safety conditions of the terminal have been assessed.
The agreement was hammered out between the Committee for Defense of the Capital and President Manuel Zelaya, who met for almost five hours on Monday.
"The International Civil Aviation Organzation ICAO will make recommendations for improving airport safety, and at the same time will set the conditions for Toncontín," said Tegucigalpa Mayor Ricardo Alvarez.