Juan Santamaría International Airport
| Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| IATA: SJO – ICAO: MROC | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Government of Costa Rica | ||
| Operator | Aeris Holdings Costa Rica under ADC & HAS and Andrade Gutiérrez Concesores | ||
| Serves | San José, Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago | ||
| Location | Alajuela Province | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 921 m / 3,022 ft | ||
| Coordinates | 09°59′38″N 084°12′32″W / 9.99389°N 84.20889°WCoordinates: 09°59′38″N 084°12′32″W / 9.99389°N 84.20889°W | ||
| Map | |||
 MROC
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| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 07/25 | 3,012 | 9,882 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2010) | |||
| Passengers | 3,120,870 | ||
| Source: Costa Rican AIP[1] | |||
Juan Santamaría International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría) (IATA: SJO, ICAO: MROC) is located in Alajuela Province, about 20 km (12 mi) from downtown San José, Costa Rica. It is a hub airport for TACA/Lacsa, and focus city airport for Copa Airlines. It is named after Costa Rica's national hero Juan Santamaría, a courageous drummer boy who died in 1856 defending his country against forces led by US-American filibuster William Walker. The airport, which is Costa Rica's primary international airport, serves a great number of tourists from Canada, Europe and the United States. There are three other international airports in the country, but of those only the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste is served by major airlines. Currently, Juan Santamaría with 4.1 million passengers, is the second busiest airport in Central America after Tocumen International Airport in Panamá.[2]
The airport's main runway allows for operations of large, widebody aircraft. Currently some scheduled flights are operated with Airbus A330 and A340, and Boeing 747 and 767, for both passengers and freight. A Concorde landed in the year 1999 for that year's airshow.[2] The airport's major airlines are TACA/Lacsa with its international network and TACA's subsidiary Sansa for domestic flights.[2] The airport has also a small hangar (called the "NASA" hangar) where they keep research aircraft that operate in Costa Rica.[citation needed] Among the most relevant aircraft operated from this hangar is the WB-57F high altitude aircraft.[2]
The Costa Rican government charges a $28 USD departure fee, which can be paid in cash (U.S. dollars or equivalent in Colones) or may be paid by Credit Card. The fee can be paid at the airport or in advance at most hotels and banks.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Infrastructure
The airport has 17 gates, 9 of them with jetbridges. It is capable of housing 17 commercial airplanes at the same time. There are 3 waiting rooms built on the first floor of the airport, next to the V.I.P room, for regional/domestic flights.
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gates 13, 14, 15, and 16.
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gates 2 and 3.
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United Airlines (with complete Continental signing and logos) Boeing 737-800's preparing for their first flights of the day to Houston and Newark respectively
[edit] Operations and administration
The airport was operated by Alterra Partners from 2001 to 2009 as part of a plan to improve the airport by the Costa Rican government. As of July 1, 2009, the privately owned Houston-based Canadian-American company ADC & HAS and the Brazilian company, Andrade Gutierrez Concessoes (AGC) - subsidiary of the conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez - took over the operations and administration of Alterra Partners as the previous operators and administrators (AGI, Bechtel, SRL) had mismanaged the airport and its construction and were in non-compliance of the concession contract. The debt financing was arranged through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). In Dec 2009, Alterra Partners changed its name to AERIS Holdings, S.A. and the new operators/administrators of the concession installed a new management team with the objective of making it a world class airport. The management team is composed of Carlos Plass as CEO (former CEO of Santiago International Airport in Chile), Tom Bartlett as COO (former COO of the Houston Airport System in Houston) and Rafael Mencia as CFO (former CFO of Aerodom, the company managing the concession for Santo Domingo Airport and five other airports in the Dominican Republic). Under this management, the construction for the expansion of the terminal is on schedule and is expected to be completed by Dec 1, 2010, with part of the terminal (including the new immigration hall) to be inaugurated May 1, 2010.[2]
[edit] Statistics
[edit] International parking positions
- Gates With Jet Bridges: 9
- Gates Without Jet Bridges: 2 (Positions 1 and 11)
[edit] Lounges
A business/VIP lounge is located in the lower level of the main terminal, across gate 4A. 'VIP Lounge Costa Rica' is the only lounge of this kind in the Juan Santamaria airport, and is exclusively for business/first class passengers of selected airlines, travel companies, banks, Priority Pass program members. Also, any passenger can use the lounge for a fee.
A Diplomatic Receptions Room is situated in the main terminal and only open to Diplomatic visitors.
[edit] Ground transportation
There is a bus stop outside the airport for the Alajuela - San José and Alajuela - Heredia route in both directions[1]. Buses from other routes also stop there however for the visiting tourist not staying in the immediate downtown San Jose area, it is not recommended to attempt to figure out the bus system unless fluent Spanish is spoken. It is better to arrange private meet & greet and transfer service which is easily done through a variety of transportation companies that service all areas of Costa Rica. The cost of a nice comfortable private van is usually the same as a regular taxi.
Licensed taxis are available in the airport and will generally accept both Colones and U.S. dollars, but not other currencies. Licensed taxis are red with yellow triangles on the doors, additionally there is an airport taxi service that is licenced and employs orange taxis.
[edit] Terminals, airlines and destinations
[edit] Main Terminal [M]
The major operator in the airport is TACA/LACSA, followed by Copa Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines. The following airlines have scheduled direct services to and/or from Juan Santamaría International Airport (as of September 2010):
[edit] Sansa Terminal [S]
All domestic flights depart from the Sansa Terminal.
| Airlines | Destinations | Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Aeroméxico | Mexico City | M |
| Air Canada | Toronto-Pearson | M |
| Air Panama | David | M |
| Air Transat | Seasonal: Montreal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson,Vancouver | M |
| American Airlines | Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, New York-JFK | M |
| Can Jet | Seasonal: Toronto-Pearson | M |
| Condor | Frankfurt, Santo Domingo | M |
| Copa Airlines | Managua, Panama City, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa | M |
| Copa Airlines Colombia | Bogotá, Guatemala City, Panama City | M |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta | M |
| Frontier Airlines | Denver | M |
| Iberia | Madrid | M |
| JetBlue Airways | Orlando | M |
| Spirit Airlines | Fort Lauderdale | M |
| TACA Airlines | San Salvador | M |
| TACA Airlines operated by Lacsa | Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Guayaquil, Guatemala City, Havana, Lima, Los Angeles, Managua, Medellín, Mexico City, Miami, New York-JFK, Panama City, Quito, San Pedro Sula, San Salvador, Santiago de Chile, Santo Domingo, Tegucigalpa, Toronto-Pearson | M |
| TACA Peru | Lima | M |
| TACA Airlines operated by Aeroperlas | Albrook | M |
| TACA Regional operated by Sansa Airlines | Barra del Colorado, Bocas del Toro, Coto 47, Drake Bay, Golfito, Liberia, Limon, Managua, Nosara, Palma Sur, Puerto Jimenez, Punta Islita, Quepos, Tamarindo, Tambor, Tortuguero | S |
| United Airlines | Houston-Intercontinental, Newark | M |
| US Airways | Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix | M |
[edit] Charter airlines
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| TACA operated by Lacsa | Cancún, Medellin, San Andres Island, San Juan de Puerto Rico |
| Jetairfly | Brussels |
[edit] Cargo airlines
- ABX Air
- Air Transport International
- DHL / DHL Aero Expreso
- Euro Atlantic Cargo
- Florida West International Airways
- LAN Chile Cargo
- Líneas Aéreas Suramericanas
- Martinair Cargo
- MasAir
- Southern Air
- UPS[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Juan Santamaria International Airport |
- Official website (Spanish)
- Dirección General de Aviación Civil de Costa Rica Costa Rican Aviation Authority
