San José Airport With Tow Additional Boarding Gates
Visitors to Costa Rica will now have move room while waiting for their flight out as two new boarding gates were opened yesterday at the Juan Santamaría (San José) international airport.

Alterra, the airport manager, worked quickly to meet the demand that the airport will face during the next coming months at the height of the tourism season.

The 1.600 square metre area will mean that the terminal can now handle up to 800 more passengers comfortably and avoid the crowded waiting areas and gates that have been a source of complaint by travellers over the years.

Karla González. minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), was on hand for the inauguration, saying that the two new gates will help provide better service during the high season.

Work on the airport terminal resumed a couple of months ago after a three setback that has made the current space inadequate to handle the growing number of visitors and travellers through the terminal.

Still to come is a complete section of the terminal to house more airline counters, customs and immigration offices and additional boarding gates, which requires a us$40 million dollar investment to complete.

Alterra Partners is continuing with the work of the completion of the terminal and is hopeful it will get a positive response in the coming days by the World Bank on the financing of the project. Mónica Nágel, executive director of Alterra, reiterated that her company is the most interested in resolving the current problem.

Minister González added that she is hopeful that Alterra will get a positive response from the banks. However, if the answer is in the negative, she said that the government is ready to take over the airport project.