For years pilots have had to make the decision to not land at the Juan Santamaría (San José) international airport when weather conditions are less than optimal, especially during the rainy season when heavy fog can affect up to more than 1/3 of  the flights coming into the airport.

But, that will all come to an end soon as the Consejo Técnico de Aviación Civil (CTAC) began work on installing the landing light system began yesterday, lights that will give pilots a clearer view of the runway, especially during heavy fog.

The Ministra de Obras Públicas y Transportes, Karla González, said that the installation of the lighting system guarantees better security, reduces the cost of operations of the airlines who are forced to increase costs with the detour of flights to other airports and most important the delays experienced by passengers.

The ministra added that the lighting system also improves night take off and landing at the airport.

The approach lighting system at the international airport have been inoperative for years. Pilots have had to constantly decide not to land in San José, choosing the nearby airports in Liberia and Panama, when weather conditions are such that landing becomes risky.

Frequent flyers to Costa Rica will at one time or another have had to circle the air in approach to the airport waiting for weather conditions to improve, while many others have had the experience of ending up in Panama or Liberia, arriving in Costa Rica hours late or the next day.

The new lighting system allows pilots to line the aircraft to the runway even in poor visibility conditions, allowing the landing.

The costs of the system is ¢1.5 billion colones and should be functioning by the end of September