More than a year after having stopped its operations in Costa Rica, as a result of the Pandemic, the American low-cost airline Southwest already has a date for its return to the country. In the absence of major setbacks in the next month, Southwest would fly from Houston to Juan Santamaría International Airport as of June 6th.
This is clear both from the official website of the company and the Aeris operations plan, which is available on its website. This past weekend, the company updated its list of open destinations and includes Costa Rica. At the same time, its reservation system already has enabled at least one direct flight between the William P. Hobby Airport and the Juan Santamaría.
This flight would be arriving in national territory at 6:15 p.m. m and, for now, it is available from Monday to Sunday. In this way, the airline joins others such as Frontier, United Airlines and Avianca which have announced that they will resume their routes between the United States and Costa Rica. Precisely, said North American country is the main source of travelers who visit the national territory.
Arrivals increase
As vaccination campaigns advance in other latitudes, international arrivals begin to increase, according to the records of the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners (DGME). During March, the last month of what is traditionally the peak visitation season, a total of 89,263 travelers arrived in Costa Rica. That number is the highest since the air borders were rehabilitated in August last year.
During the first quarter of 2021, the country received a total of 206,715 people. That represents a 76% year-on-year decline compared to 862,667 revenues for the same period in 2020.
According to ICT estimates, a maximum of 1.6 million visitors is expected this year. Last year, the country received only 1,011,912 entries to the country’s airports. This equates to 66% less than in 2019.
