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Juan Santamaría International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría
IATA: SJO ICAO: MROC
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Government of Costa Rica
Operator	Aeris Holdings Costa Rica under CCR S.A.
Serves	San José, Costa Rica
Location	Alajuela Province, Costa Rica
Opened	May 2, 1958; 66 years ago (1958-05-02)
Hub for	Avianca Costa Rica Costa Rica Green Airways Sansa Airlines
Focus city for	Avianca El Salvador Copa Airlines
Operating base for	Volaris Costa Rica
Elevation AMSL	921 m / 3,022 ft
Coordinates	9°59′38″N 84°12′32″W / 9.99389°N 84.20889°W / 9.99389; -84.20889
Website	www.sjoairport.com
Map
SJOLocation in Costa Rica
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07/25 3,012 9,882 Asphalt
Statistics (2023)
Total Passengers 6,222,889 Aircraft movements 95,896
Source: Costa Rican AIP, DGAC

Juan Santamaría International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría) (IATA: SJO, ICAO: MROC) is the primary airport serving San José, the capital of Costa Rica. The airport is located in Alajuela Province, 20 kilometres (12 mi; 11 nmi) northwest of downtown San José. It is named after Costa Rica's national hero, Juan Santamaría, a drummer boy who died in 1856 defending his country against forces led by William Walker, an American filibuster. It is the biggest and busiest airport in Costa Rica and second in Central America with more than 5 million passengers per year before COVID.

The airport is a hub for Avianca Costa Rica, Costa Rica Green Airways, Sansa Airlines, and Volaris Costa Rica and a focus city for Avianca El Salvador and Copa Airlines. It was the country's only international gateway for many years, before the opening of the international airport in Liberia, Guanacaste. Both airports have direct flights to North and Central America and Europe, but Juan Santamaría International Airport also serves cities in South America and the Caribbean.

Juan Santamaría International Airport was once the busiest airport in Central America, but is currently second after Tocumen International Airport in Panama. In 2022, Juan Santamaría International Airport received 5 million passengers (international and domestic).

History

The airport was built to replace the previous one in downtown San Jose where Parque La Sabana is located today. Funding was secured by the government in 1951 and construction proceeded slowly until the airport was officially inaugurated on May 2, 1958. It was initially called "Aeropuerto Internacional el Coco" after its location of the same name in the province of Alajuela. It was later renamed in honor of Juan Santamaría. In 1961, funding was secured to build the highway connecting the airport to downtown San José.

Ground transportation

The road access to the airport is on an exit at Route 1, and near the exit to Alajuela. There is a parking area with surcharge, plus a bus stop with plenty of services to San Jose downtown (with no exact schedule but with 24-hour bus service and approximately one service every 10 minutes during working hours). Licensed taxis are available in the airport and will generally accept both colónes and U.S. dollars, but not other currencies. Costa Rican taxis are red with yellow triangles on the doors, ubiquitous all over the country, plus there is a special airport taxi service that is licensed and employs orange taxis. While the rail line linking downtown Alajuela with San José's Atlantic Station passes in close proximity to the airport, there is no station serving the airport and no rail service of any kind to the airport.

Facilities

The airport's sole runway allows operations of large wide-body aircraft. Currently, some scheduled flights are operated with Airbus A330, A340 and A350, and Boeing 747, 767, 777 and 787, for both passengers and freight. A Concorde landed in 1999 for that year's airshow. Previously, the airport had a small hangar, called the "NASA" hangar, to house research aircraft, like the Martin B-57 Canberra high-altitude aircraft, that were being operated in Costa Rica. After that mission was completed, the hangar was removed.

Internationally, the largest operator in the airport is Avianca and all their branches, followed by Copa Airlines which uses the Main Terminal (M). Domestically the largest airline is Sansa Airlines, and their flights depart from the Domestic Terminal (D). The largest US airlines at the airport by number of destinations served all year long are jetBlue and United Airlines, and the largest European airline at the airport is Iberia which is the only European airline that flies daily all year long between Europe and San José from their base at Madrid airport using an Airbus A330-200 combined with the Airbus A350-900XWB (especially in European winter season).

No major changes were made to the terminal until November 1997 when the government issued a decree requesting participation of private companies to manage the operations of the airport. After a few years of legal challenges and contract negotiations, Alterra Partners was given a 20-year concession and started managing the facilities in May 2001. It was also expected that the company would finish the necessary expansion and construction of new facilities; however, in March 2002, Alterra announced it would cease any further construction due to disagreements over financing and airport use fee billing with the government. The dispute was extended for a few years and problems started at the terminal; in 2005, the International Civil Aviation Organization pointed out that the airport did not comply with safety regulations. In July 2009, Alterra yielded the contract to a consortium composed of Houston-based Canadian-American company ADC & HAS and the Brazilian company, Andrade Gutierrez Concessoes (AGC)—subsidiary of the conglomerate Andrade Gutierrez. In December 2009, Alterra Partners changed its name to AERIS Holdings, S.A. In November 2010, Aeris announced it had finished the expansion and construction of new facilities with the installation of the 9th boarding bridge.

The airport houses three business lounges for both special card holders and business class travellers; Avianca Club, Copa Club and VIP Lounge (for BAC Credomatic customers).

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines have scheduled direct services to and/or from Juan Santamaría International Airport:

Passenger

Notes

• ^a Avianca Costa Rica flies to Buenos Aires–Ezeiza via Quito. They have fifth freedom rights to transport passengers solely between Quito and Buenos Aires–Ezeiza.
• ^b Avianca Costa Rica will fly a second route to Buenos Aires–Ezeiza via Guayaquil. They will have fifth freedom rights to transport passengers solely between Guayaquil and Buenos Aires–Ezeiza.
• ^c Avianca Costa Rica flies to New York-JFK via Guatemala City or San Pedro Sula. They have fifth freedom rights to transport passengers solely between Guatemala City or San Pedro Sula and New York-JFK.
• ^d Volaris Costa Rica flies to Mexico City non-stop but also has flights via Guatemala City. They have fifth freedom rights to transport passengers solely between Guatemala City and Mexico City.
• ^e Volaris Costa Rica flies to New York–JFK via San Salvador. They have fifth freedom rights to transport passengers solely between San Salvador and New York-JFK.

Cargo

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Statistics

Juan Santamaria International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Costa Rica, having experienced a constant increase in traffic since its opening in 1958, boosted by the growing flow of tourists. The airport reached more than one million passengers per year for the first time in 1991 and having a record number of passengers in 2023. Traffic movements and freight (in metric tons) also reached a peak in 2023.

	Number of passengers	Percentage change	Number of movements	Freight (tonnes)
1960	209,624	–	–	–
1965	216,162	09.6%	14,827	9,839
1970	381,278	016.3%	28,673	19,808
1975	759,098	018.1%	33,417	21,727
1980	658,154	02.5%	33,013	21,712
1985	617,474	00.3%	24,990	27,282
1990	987,870	010.8%	35,569	72,419
1995	1,839,175	03.8%	52,402	88,249
2000	2,160,869	04.3%	72,428	77,137
2005	3,243,440	012.2%	72,131	64,338
2010	4,257,606	05.0%	87,384	85,164
2011	3,857,588	09.4%	72,674	98,609
2012	3,872,467	00.4%	67,002	94,775
2013	3,797,616	01.9%	62,598	85,022
2014	3,917,573	03.2%	73,307	86,741
2015	4,494,875	014.7%	82,835	75,329
2016	4,595,355	02.2%	85,731	73,633
2017	5,092,060	010.8%	90,044	82,712
2018	5,230,382	02.7%	78,897	91,152
2019	5,541,577	05.9%	84,790	92,072
2020	1,716,792	069.0%	35,808	76,280
2021	2,963,551	072.6%	62,014	92,420
2022	4,936,391	066.6%	87,004	100,909
2023	6,222,889	026.1%	95,896	102,478
Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Costa Rica

Accidents and incidents

• On August 20, 1977, a Monarch Aviation Convair CV-880 struck trees and crashed 2.5 km (1.6 mi) southeast of SJO shortly after takeoff probably because the aircraft was overweight with cargo. All 3 occupants died.
• On May 23, 1988, a leased Boeing 727-100 (TI-LRC) operating the route San Jose-Managua-Miami, collided with a fence at the end of the runway in the Juan Santamaria International Airport, crashed at a nearby field next to a highway, and caught fire. The excess of weight in the front part of the airplane was the cause of the accident. There were no fatalities out of the 23 occupants.
• On January 16, 1990, SANSA Flight 32 crashed into the Cerro Cedral, a mountain, shortly after takeoff from Juan Santamaria International Airport. All 20 passengers and 3 crew on board died in the crash.
• On September 3, 2007, a North American Rockwell Sabreliner 70 registration N726JR aborted the takeoff from runway 07. The airplane ran off the right side of the runway into the grass. The landing gear collapsed as the plane skidded and turned 180 degrees. The aircraft was written off.
• On April 7, 2022, DHL Aero Expreso Flight 7216, a Boeing 757-27A operated by DHL Aviation en route to Guatemala City skidded off the runway while performing an emergency landing due to a hydraulic problem. The aircraft was written off because the tail section broke off; however, there was no fire or injuries reported.

See also

• Transport in Costa Rica
• List of airports in Costa Rica

References

1. AIP - Part 3 Aerodromes Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
2. (in Spanish) Anuario Estadístico de Transporte Aéreo 2022.
3. Calvo, Rodrigo (2011-03-27). "Los mil rostros de La Sabana". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2011-04-04. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
4. "En primber debate fueron aprobados el Arancel de Aduanas y la Ley de Pagos Internacionales". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. 1951-11-26. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22. Retrieved 2015-12-26.
5. ^ Rojas, Ronny (2008-07-09). "El Santamaría incumple normas de seguridad". Al Dia (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
6. "Hace 50 años, Sábado 11 de marzo de 1961". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. 2011-03-11. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
7. Delgado, Edgar (1999-01-28). "Concorde impuso récord". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
8. Ponchner, Debbie (2005-07-02). "Hoy despega de suelo tico la misión TCSP de la NASA". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
9. Ponchner, Debbie (2007-05-05). "NASA realizará gran misión científica desde suelo tico". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
10. ^ Feigenblatt, Hazel (2001-05-05). "Aeropuerto a manos privadas hoy". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
11. Loaiza, Vanessa (2002-03-15). "Suspenden obras en aeropuerto". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
12. ^ Loaiza, Vanessa (2009-12-04). "BID presta $45 millones para ampliar Juan Santamaría". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
13. Loaiza, Vanessa (2010-11-10). "Concluye modernización de aeropuerto Santamaría". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
14. "VIP Services - Juan Santamaría International Airport". sjoairport.com. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
15. "Avianca anuncia y pone a la venta una nueva ruta internacional".
16. "Avianca will connect San José and Mexico City nonstop starting in December". LaRepública.net (in Spanish). September 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
17. "Avianca ofrecerá vuelo diario entre San José y Ciudad de Panamá".
18. "Avianca strengthens connectivity from Central America with the operation of routes to the United States". Periódico Digital (in Spanish). September 2021. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
19. "South American carrier ups its presence at Dulles Airport". 16 July 2022.
20. ^ "AVIANCA COSTA RICA RESUMES 2 US ROUTES FROM DEC 2023". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
21. "Frontier Airlines More Than Doubles Its International Destinations from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport".
22. "GOL Adds 2 International Routes in NW24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
23. "Evelop will have flights between Madrid and San José (Costa Rica) during the summer". Aviacionline (in Spanish). May 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
24. "Southwest Just Added New Routes to the Caribbean, Mexico, and More".
25. "United Airlines (UAL) Adds Eight New International Destinations". StreetInsider. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
26. "Volaris Costa Rica Plans Guadalajara Service in NW24". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
27. "Volaris El Salvador Adds San Jose (Costa Rica) Service From July 2024". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
28. "Wingo anuncia dos nuevas rutas desde Medellín hacia Curazao y San José de Costa Rica: ¿cuándo empezarán a operar?". El Tiempo. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
29. "Wingo announces 4 new international routes". Aviaciononline.com (in Spanish). May 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
30. Air Transport Bulletin 2021. France Aviation Civile Services
31. Air Transport Bulletin 2022. France Aviation Civile Services
32. Air Transport Bulletin 2023. France Aviation Civile Services
33. Air Transport Bulletin 2024. France Aviation Civile Services
34. Accident description for N8817E at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on October 12, 2023.
35. Accident description for TI-LRC at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on October 12, 2023.
36. Accident description for N726JR at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on October 12, 2023.
37. Noëth, Bart (2022-04-07). "DHL Aero Expreso Boeing 757 freighter exits runway and breaks into pieces at San Jose, Costa Rica". Aviation24.be. Retrieved 2022-04-07.

External links

• Official website (in Spanish and English)
• Dirección General de Aviación Civil de Costa Rica—Costa Rican Aviation Authority
• SANSA—Costa Rican airline
• OpenStreetMap - Alajuela

• Costa Rica
• Aviation

• 1958 establishments in Costa Rica
• Airports established in 1958
• Airports in Costa Rica
• Buildings and structures in Alajuela Province
• Greater Metropolitan Area (Costa Rica)
• Institutions of Costa Rica