Grupo CCR, which already owned 49% of Aeris, concessionaire of the Juan Santamaría airport, has now acquired 97% of this firm and will be in charge of the management of the air terminal.
Elfinancierocr.com reports that "... The control that the CCR Group will now have at the airport will not harm the running of the air terminal.This means that neither the airlines nor the companies that currently work on the property will be negatively affected in any way, according to Rafael Mencía, Aeris' executive director."
VECA Airlines will start operations in the Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport on April 27, with flights to San Salvador and San Jose.
After the announcement by Nicaraguan tourism authorities, the low-cost airline VECA Airlines confirmed on its website that it will start flights from Managua to San Salvador (direct flight) and San Jose (one stop) from April 27.
The new rate recorded reductions in charges for landing, approach, lighting, boarding bridges, buses and other infrastructure, while the rate per kilo of cargo has risen to $0.0076.
From a statement issued by the Regulatory Authority for Public Services of Costa Rica (ARESEP):
The Regulatory Authority for Public Services, through the Administration of Transport, approved cuts in rates for aeronautical services provided at the Juan Santamaria International Airport (sJIA).
Following the ending of the contract with the company Exact Change, which offers the service of exchanging currency, Aeris Holding Costa Rica has started procedures for selecting a new provider.
The company managing Juan Santamaria International Airport announced the end of the contract with the Spanish exchange services provider Exact Change, due to the fact that it has not completed the process of registering with the Central Bank of Costa Rica and the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. Therefore preparations are being made, for the coming months, to release specifications for a new tender for the service.
Almost 70% of international arrivals by air corresponded to North American visitors, followed by Europe with 16.5% and South America with 6.9%.
From a statement issued by the Government of Costa Rica:
2014 was a momentous year for the tourism industry, in which all historical records of the country in tourism were exceeded . This is demonstrated by the data provided by the General Department of Immigration (DGME) which has been analyzed by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
Approval has been given to the design of a new maintenance hangar at the Juan Santamaria airport and the project will be started in the first half of the year.
In December the International Civil Aviation Organization approved plans and designs for the construction of a new 10,000 square meter hangar to accomodate up to 6 large aircraft. This will allow for the expansion of the main airport in Costa Rica to the east.
The Director of Civil Aviation has announced the recruitment of an international consultancy firm to determine the location of a major airport to replace Juan Santamaría in 2025.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation plans to open a large air terminal in the canton of Orotina in 2025, which will have the ability to receive double the amount of passengers as Juan Santamaria International Airport.
The Spanish company FCC won the $34 million contract to build a 10,000 m² hangar for aircraft maintenance.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) made the award for the new hangar where the cooperative in charge of repairing and maintaining aircraft will be relocated to. The new structure will be located 150 meters from the runway of the Juan Santa Maria airport and will be ready in 18 months.
The airport is planning 700 square meters of new retail space, which will include a supermarket and clothing stores.
The information was released by Rafael Mencia, CEO of Aeris, the company responsible for managing the airport, adding that the new premises will be located in the west of the terminal.
"... an area of about 700 m² can be used for stores, as the corridors will consume 300 m²", reported Nacion.com.
The government is negotiating with Peruvian Airlines direct flights between the capital of Peru and San Jose International Airport.
Nacion.com reports that "On 17 May, Avianca announced changes to its services in Costa Rica, a measure that eliminated direct flights to Quito and Guayaquil, in South America, and also to Havana, the Cuban capital. On that occasion, the ICT acknowledged that it would affect, in some way, the arrival of visitors to Costa Rica and that it would negotiate with airlines in order to balance revenue. "
In terms of how modern the infrastructure for air transport is, Panama leads the field, followed distantly by Costa Rica.
"None of the airports in Central America comes close to knocking Tocumen off its number one position in the ranking by Skytrax, nor the ranking by the World Economic Forum. The latter measures the quality of infrastructure for air travel in the country , where Panama climbed from 38th place in 2007 to last year reach the prestigious position of sixth place," reported Elsalvador.com.
The International Airport at San Jose will have added capacity to handle 260,000 passengers a year, with two new boarding gates and another 1,000 square meters in commercial spaces.
As explained Vilma Lopez, deputy director of Civil Aviation, Aeris (manager of the terminal), will be the company in charge of the enlargement process in the east of the terminal, opposite Cooperativa Autogestionaria de Servicios Aeroindustriales (Coopesa R. L).
A tilapia producer is saving 10-15% exporting from Liberia Airport, where airlines offer their warehouses with 20% discount.
This week the tilapia processing plant Terrapez made its first exports through Daniel Oduber Airport in Liberia, Costa Rica.
In the first month the company expects to send through this route 20% of the 30 tons per day of fish sold to the U.S., said Ronald Gomez, head of the logistics company belonging to the Costa Rican conglomerate Aqua Corporación Internacional (ACI).