Airports, Airlines, Flight Information Costa Rica
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Airports in Costa Rica
Domestic Airlines in Costa Rica
SJO (San Jose) – Real Time Flight Arrivals and Departures
Costa Rica Major Airports
Costa Rica, for a country that could fit into Kentucky, has a fair number of airports. The two biggies are the San José Airport and the Liberia Airport. Obviously the San José airport serves the capital city of San José, and the Liberia airport, located in Guanacaste serves the northwest beach areas that are very popular with tourists. Both airports are international and have runways that serve planes of all sizes.
Both have car rental locations nearby with shuttle service. There is also bus service available, and many resorts have courtesy vans for registered guests.
Fares to the Liberia airport have been traditionally higher than to San José. I suppose there is a reason, but I have no idea what it is. I do know that it is often several hundred dollars higher, but this site can’t keep track of airline fares, so do your homework. It may well be cheaper to use a domestic airline to fly out of San Jose.
As of the time I am writing this, America, Delta, United and other major carriers serve both airports.
As for best fares, I have had readers recommend this web site. I have no experience with them. I have also used this web site with some success, but nothing replaces a diligent search for best airfares. I have also noticed that many of these search engines seem to leave out the discount airlines… so perhaps do a manual search of those.
Domestic Airlines
Although I am a firm believer in traveling Costa Rica by car (but see Driving in Costa Rica and Renting A Car), there are times when driving will just eat up too much vacation time and you just need to get there. Luckily, Costa Rica has two domestic airlines that serve just about all of the prime locations in Costa Rica. They are:
Nature Air
Sansa
Nature Air uses the San Jose airport and has a counter there. They service almost all the Costa Rica hotspots and have service to Granada, Nicaragua, and Panama as well. They also offer air charter service.
Sansa flies out of the San José airport, but BUT from the main terminal. The Sansa terminal is a couple of hundred yards away, an easy walk unless you have a lot of luggage. Even if you do, there are porters or skycaps who will lug your stuff over there.
Sansa also offers to rent you the whole plane for a flat rate. So if you’re coming with 10-12 people, it may be cheaper to charter the whole thing yourself.
Note, while these airlines will get you near where you want to go, in many cases you will need transportation from these small airports to your final destination. At the larger airports, car rentals are available, but make sure you check on the smaller ones so you don’t find yourself stranded. All have taxi service if your final destination is not too far. Often, hotels and resorts can send a driver to pick you up. Both offer roundtrip
Important: Both of these airlines fly smaller planes and have STRICT weight limits as to what you can bring. It is currently just over 11 kilos (about 25 pounds) per person. This is NOT carry on. This is total weight. I have heard stories that they will charge you extra, but I have heard MORE stories that they refuse the extra weight, especially if the plane is full. Make sure you plan ahead for this.
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