Iberia Announces More Direct Flights To Costa Rica
The Feria Internacional de Turismo (Fitur) held in Madrid, Spain, had good news for Costa Rican tourism for this year with the expected rebound of European tourism.

First came the news that Costa Rica as being chosen by Travel Weekly as the best vacation destination in Latin America. Now, Iberia, the Spanish airline, announced an increase in the number of direct flights to and from Costa Rica.

The news brings a welcomed relief to the tourism sector which saw a negative forecast for European tourism with the closing of Air Madrid, which brought a large number of European tourists to the country.

The announcement came following intense conversations between Costa Rican tourism minister, Ricardo Benavides, and the president of Iberia airlines, Fernando Conte, during the Fitur fair.

"Costa Rica will have an increase of European tourists and the decision by Iberia gives me confidence in the appreciation of our country in the main market in the old continent", said Benavides.

According to the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) - Costa Rican tourism board - the Iberia decision will mean an additional 92.000 visitors each year.

With the announcement Iberia will have more direct flights from Madrid to San José and back which means no stops in other Central American countries or the United States.

Currently the airline has seven weekly flights to Costa Rica, three of which stop in Guatemala and three in Panama, leaving only one direct flight to Costa Rica.

Iberia uses the Airbus A340-600 with a capacity of 232 passengers. To date that is the largest airplane to land at the Juan Santamaría (San José) international airport by a scheduled airline.