The recovery of passenger traffic at the Juan Santamaría International Airport (AIJS) not only returned to pre-pandemic levels, but also exceeded them.
This is verified because during the first quarter of the year there was a growth of 2.4% compared to 2019. “We have ensured that the economic recovery through tourism is a reality; for months we have reported how close we have come to resuming the pre-pandemic figures. About 3 years after the arrival of Covid-19 in our country, which implied, among many impacts, the temporary closure of our borders, we can now affirm that we have 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. In fact, between January and March 2023, 1,529,914 passengers had already passed through the Juan Santamaría International Airport, between incoming and outgoing passengers.
In addition to the recovery if compared to 2019, when matching this period with that of the year 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 that, 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 constant growth in tourist arrivals and new routes to the Juan Santamaría Airport”, mentioned Hermes Navarro, head of Investment Attraction at ICT.
Future outlook
There is a good omen regarding the behavior that passenger traffic would have in the coming months. An example of this was the first week of April, Easter, in which there was an increase of more than 20% in incoming and outgoing passengers compared to 2019.
The focus of working towards recovery now will be on the permanence of these numbers. For this reason, despite the fact that the offer for passengers is extensive, thanks to the work coordinated with the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, the Airport Police, the Association of Airlines Aéreas (ALA), the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) and the efforts of the airport community, it is thought to expand the range of flight options.
“Currently, we connect Costa Rica with 35 destinations around the world through 25 international and 2 domestic commercial airlines. In this 2023, in search of continuing as the gateway to Pura Vida experiences, we will continue to participate in meetings with airlines through the most prestigious fairs worldwide, which will allow us to increase business relationships, and therefore, the opportunities for the passengers”, said Hernández.
