Guanacaste Aeropuerto, a member of the VINCI Airports network, and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute announce the opening of two new routes operated by Alaska airline. This is the direct route from Seattle and San Francisco international airports, starting December 21, 2024.
In Costa Rica, Alaska will operate these direct routes from Seattle (SEA) and San Francisco (SFO) exclusively to Guanacaste. The frequency of operations will be weekly, on Saturdays, on a Boeing 737-8 Max with a capacity of 178 seats.
The United States is the main source market for tourists to Costa Rica. In the first five months of the year, 344,789 passengers arrived via air through Guanacaste Airport from this country, according to figures from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).
The Minister of Tourism, William Rodríguez, stated that “The 2024-2025 high season is expected to be historic for Costa Rica due to the increase in operations announced by various airlines. Starting in December, Alaska Airlines will inaugurate two direct flights from the west coast of the United States (Seattle and San Francisco) to the Guanacaste Airport. These flights will not only increase the arrivals of our best prospects from those cities, but will also improve our air connectivity with northern and northwest regions, such as Oregon, Nevada and Idaho, as well as with cities in Canada, to which Alaska Airlines also flies ”.
Very excited
“We are excited to welcome passengers aboard this new non-stop service from San Francisco and Seattle to Guanacaste, one of the most beautiful and vibrant destinations in Central America. These new additions provide our customers with a convenient connection to a destination we began flying to in 2015, and reaffirm our commitment to Latin America,” said Kirsten Amrine, Vice President of Network Planning and Revenue Management at Alaska Airlines. “As the largest US airline between the West Coast and Latin America, we appreciate the continued support of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute and Guanacaste Airport.”
“We are proud to announce more good news of the opening of new routes. This is a reflection of the hard work of our route development team to strengthen our network in strategic markets on the west coast of the United States with the support of the ICT. At Guanacaste Airport we are preparing for a high season with new flights. These routes operated by Alaska, exclusively to Guanacaste, show the interest of the destination for foreign tourists,” said César Jaramillo, general manager of Guanacaste Airport.
The flight itineraries are as follows:
Seattle (SEA) – Guanacaste (LIR):
The departure time from Seattle will be at 8:15 (local time), arriving in Guanacaste (LIR) at 17:15.
While its departure itinerary from Guanacaste will be on Sundays at 10:00 and it has an arrival time in Seattle at 16:45.
San Francisco (SFO) – Guanacaste (LIR):
The departure time from San Francisco will be at 8:00 (local time), arriving in Guanacaste at 16:20.
The departure itinerary from Guanacaste will be on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. and the arrival time in San Francisco will be 10:35 p.m.
