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Airplane
Parking Space at Liberia Airport Expanded
Airplane
Parking Space at Liberia Airport Expanded
(InfoWebPress) – Costa Rica’s summer, which
coincides with the high tourism season,
demands for parking space for airplanes
arriving at the country’s international
airport, including Daniel Oduber in Liberia.
For this reason, the airport’s parking area
has been expanded by 34,000 square meters.
Before, only four aircraft could park at the
airport at the same time; now there’s room
for 11. Other improvements to the Liberia
terminal included a new asphalt layer,
lighting for vertical signs, and electric
supply to the operations platform.
The Civil Aviation Technical Council (CETAC)
indicated that investment in these works
reached 4.109 billion colones (close to $8)
and that the new infrastructure will have a
useful lifespan of 20 years.
Additionally, the airport’s main runway was
repaired — patching up potholes, filling
cracks and eliminating the rubber layer this
surface used to have. Moreover, shoulders
were improved in order to provide airplanes
more security and horizontal lines on the
runway were repainted (at a acceptable
friction point) to aid in the aircraft’s
departures and arrivals.
Despite the fact that the global economic
crisis has affected the tourism industry in
general, the impact has been slight in
Guanacaste. For example, Continental
Airlines has actually increased the number
of flights to Costa Rica, including a third
weekly trip from Houston to Liberia.
Currently, some airlines fly in and out of
Daniel Oduber, and two more are expected to
begin operations here by the end of the year
— with three nonstop flights from Canada and
one from Germany.
In fact, arrival of tourists at the Liberia
airport increased by 14,000 people between
2007 and 2008, according to numbers provided
by the airlines themselves.
Such data indicate that in 2008, 420,000
tourists came to Costa Rica via the Liberia
terminal, that is, 3.5 more than in 2007,
when 405,000 travelers chose the Guanacaste
airport.
Traffic at Daniel Oduber has been increasing
for the past six years. Between 2003 and
2008, the average arrival of passengers here
increased by 44.25 percent thanks to
positive yearly figures that ranged from 3.5
percent to 61 percent. The month when the
most tourists came to Guanacaste via air
during 2008 was March, which saw the arrival
of 60,000 people.
Such numbers have made it clear that the
airport’s infrastructure need to be expanded
to keep up with demand. That’s why a bidding
process has been started to increase space
in the airport’s boarding areas and
complementary services such as food and
baggage transportation; additionally, duty
free stores were opened last year.
In the same way, the process for bidding out
the airport’s new terminal and its
management continues, but so far no
interested parties have submitted bids.
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