GOL LinhasAéreas will offer exclusive, regular, non-stop flights between San José and São Paulo, starting in the last quarter of 2024.Flight marks a milestone in the ICT’s strategy of expansion and diversification of tourism markets.
The giant Brazilian market and Costa Rica will be connected for the first time by a direct flight. Starting in the last quarter of 2024, GOL LinhasAéreas, one of Latin America’s leading airlines and Avianca’s strategic partner in the Abra Group, will launch an international route between the two countries, allowing Costa Rica to have a direct connection with the largest metropolis in the southern hemisphere, São Paulo, Brazil’s financial, corporate, gastronomic and cultural capital.
The unprecedented operation between San José’s Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) and the Brazilian metropolis will begin on November 12, 2024, departing Costa Rica at 8:40 p.m. and arriving in Brazil at 7:10 a.m. (local time) the following day. The flight from Brazil is scheduled to take off from GRU International Airport at 13:55 hours, landing on Costa Rican soil at 18:25 hours. There will be three weekly frequencies, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
More connectivity
This new route is fundamental to create more connectivity with South America, a crucial initiative for the development of tourism and the generation of jobs and income.
Very high potential
“Brazil is a giant market with a very high potential; and that is why we have worked intensely to secure this route, this direct air connection was an essential priority and we will be able to attract Brazilian tourists with non-stop flights starting November 12, 2024, offer them the wonders of Costa Rica, particularly surfing, volcanoes, and with it the connection with nature, with our traditions and with our people, with the undoubted benefit that this will represent for the communities that live from tourism,” mentioned William Rodriguez, Minister of Tourism.
For AERIS, operator of the Juan Santamaría International Airport, the start of direct flights between São Paulo and San José, in Costa Rica, as of November 12, 2024, marks the culmination of collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors. “The remarkable, effective and close collaboration with the Costa Rican Tourism Institute has played a key role in attracting new routes and improving connectivity in our country. This partnership not only promotes new business and tourism opportunities, but also strengthens our cultural and economic ties with Brazil,” says Ricardo Hernandez, executive director of AERIS.
All flights will be operated with Boeing 737 MAX 8 models, the most sustainable aircraft in GOL’s fleet, which in international configuration has capacity for 176 passengers. To visit Brazil, Costa Rican travelers do not need a visa, as long as they stay in the country for up to 90 days.
In 2023, 122,726 tourists from South America visited Costa Rica. Brazil was the third most important market from the south of the continent with a total of 21,249 travelers, of which 19,788 arrived by air.
