- Airline will restart its routes to San José and Guanacaste with three weekly flights.
Monday, April 19, 2021- With three weekly flights beginning June 29, KLM will restart its routes to Costa Rica on its usual Amsterdam-San José-Liberia-Amsterdam route, which it will fly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
“We are delighted to celebrate KLM’s return,” said Gustavo J. Segura, Minister of Tourism. “The company is putting its faith in Costa Rica, increasing the number of seats in the coming months and promoting the arrival of Europeans, whose average stays in the country are as high as 18 days.” Segura added that the June start date for flights coincides with the beginning of the European summer. By that point, more Europeans will be vaccinated against COVID-19 and ready to travel internationally to a destination like Costa Rica that has strong public health measures in place.
For the province of Guanacaste, the news brings hope of new tourism sector jobs.
“We are overjoyed that the Dutch airline KLM has confirmed that they will restart their operations in Guanacaste beginning in June,” said Cesar Jaramillo, General Manager of CORIPORT, the administrator of the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport. “This news is a major boost to our growth projections for the second half of the year.”
“By working alongside governmental institutions, we have made a concerted effort to attract more European tourists, who contribute to the growth of the destination and the reactivation of the country’s economy. Guanacaste’s airport is prepared to receive a larger volume of travel while continuing to comply with public health protocols and the Protejámonos (let’s protect each other) initiative by Vinci Airports to serve our visitors and employees and keep them safe,” Jaramillo continued.
Meanwhile, Rafael Mencía, Executive Director of AERIS, the administrator of the Juan Santamaría International Airport, noted that KLM’s decision to extend its operations to the airport is the result of efforts by the Costa Rican Tourism Board with support from AERIS as an airport manager.
“We are constantly following the public health requirements that are so crucial in these times,” said Mencía. “These efforts seek to continue attracting visitors going to and from important cities such as Amsterdam, strengthening our connections to the Netherlands, which is the fifth-largest tourist-sending market for Costa Rica.”
Beginning on June 29, KLM will fly to Costa Rica on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, arriving at Juan Santamaría International Airport at 1:05 p.m. and leaving for Liberia at 2:45 p.m. From Liberia, it will head back to the Netherlands at 4:40 p.m.
Although the flights already appear on the airline’s booking system, the final authorization from the Costa Rican Civil Aviation authorities is still outstanding, though it is expected in the coming days.
