Lack of Airport Police
Caused Long Lines At The
San José Airport
Yesterday
The lack of sufficient "policías
aeroportuarios" (airport
police officials) was
the cause of long lines
at the Juan Santamaría
(San José) international
airport departures level
yesterday.
The lines got as long as
25 metres (75 feet) of
passengers who already
had checked in and now
waiting to pass to the
immigration post and a
check of their carry on
baggage.
According to the
executive director of
Alterra, manager of the
airport, Mónica Nágel,
the biggest congestion
was between 9:00am and
the afternoon.
Glen Pacheco, director
of the Policía
Aeroportuaria at the
Juan Santamaría admitted
that yesterday they had
less officers on duty
than normal.
Pacheco added that five
officers are "incapacitados"
(medical leave), four on
vacation and one did not
show up for work,
leaving the unit with 10
short. And the situation
was worsened by lunch
time when, Pacheco said,
he had to give the
officers and duty a
lunch break.
For many the situation
was seen as a shame for
tourism as many visitors
ending their stay were
faced with long lines to
get to their flight.
Nagel recognized that
the terminal was in
"chaos", especially
between 12:30pm and
2:00pm, when there were
no officials on duty to
deal with the
passengers.
Nagel added that though
the situation is not in
any way the fault of
Alterra, it came out
looking bad.
"I hope that the police
authorities are
conscious that this kind
of this cannot happen
again, especially in the
high tourist season that
is just around the
corner", said Nagel.
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