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Triangle route from Air Transat to connect Vancouver, San José and Liberia

 

  • Route will be offered twice a week from December 18, 2019 to April 25, 2020.
  •  “This is an opportunity to increase visits, generate employment and to continue strengthening Costa Rica as a tourist destination,” said the Minister of Tourism.

From December 18, 2019 to April 25, 2020, an Airbus A321LR from Air Transat will connect Vancouver, located on the Pacific coast of Canada, with two Costa Rican cities, San José and Liberia, on a route known as a triangle route.

The route will begin sales on Thursday, June 6 and will be offered twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays for a total of 38 flights during the period. The route will not allow for domestic travel between the Costa Rican cities.

The Airbus assigned to this triangle route is a completely new airplane with a 199-passenger capacity. It will depart from Vancouver at 6:30 a.m. local time and will arrive in Liberia, Guanacaste at 5:25 p.m. local time, with a stop in San José, Costa Rica.

After an 80-minute stopover, the Airbus will continue directly to Vancouver, leaving Liberia, Guanacaste at 6:40 p.m. local time, and arriving in Canada at 12:20 a.m., local time.

“The coordinated operation of both international airports, Juan Santamaría and Daniel Oduber, is the beginning of a new phase,” said María Amalia Revelo, Minister of Tourism. “The fact that Air Transat is becoming the second airline to offer a triangle route with these two airports is an opportunity to increase the number of trips, generate employment, and continue to strengthen Costa Rica as a tourist destination,” she added.

President Carlos Alvarado reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to continue promoting tourism in our country. “Just as we were able to manage 3 million arrivals in 2018 for the first time, we will continue to make progress in strengthening our offer of sustainable tourism, with a view to benefiting our entire population, without exception,” he said.

Starting in Vancouver, Canada, the trip can be completed in either San José or in Guanacaste with the same ticket. Similarly, you can return to Vancouver directly from Liberia or board in San José with the same ticket.

Air Transat operates weekly flights to Juan Santamaría from the cities of Montreal (Monday and Friday) and Toronto (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday). From Daniel Oduber in Liberia, flights operate three times a week to Toronto (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and twice a week to Montreal (Wednesday and Friday).

According to the Costa Rican Central Bank’s Tourism Satellite Account and Product Input Matrix in 2016 - the most recent - there are at least 211,213 tourism-related jobs. By dividing international arrivals on all 2018 routes (3,016,667) by the number of tourism-related jobs, we get a ratio of 1 job generated in tourism for every 14 international arrivals.

Canadian visits

There were 217,006 tourist arrivals from Canada in 2018; 92% came into the country by air, the main mode of transport into the country.

Canada represents 7% of total international arrivals to the country and 14% of arrivals from North America.

The largest number of Canadian arrivals to Costa Rica occur from December to March, during the winter in this North American country.

The average stay for 2017 is estimated at 14 nights, while the average expenditure per person was estimated at US $109.84 per day.

Canadians enjoy sun and beach activities, flora and fauna observation, hiking trails and visits to volcanoes, among others, according to exit surveys conducted by the ICT.