“A major IT system failure” caused the cancelation of all British Airways flights to and from Heathrow and Gatwick, London yesterday and through this Sunday morning, causing the airports to become severely congested and affecting thousands of travelers. British Airways operates direct flights from London to Costa Rica All checking and operational systems were affected by what they believe was ...

The Costa Rican Tourism Institute announced the opening of a direct air connection between Costa Rica and Peru, the first direct connection to South America. The LATAM flight between San José, Costa Rica and Lima, Peru will facilitate connections to other South American countries. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. is a South American airline holding company incorporated under Chilean law and headqua...

Costa Rica's tourist minister, Mauricio Ventura, announced today a new direct route on Southwest between Florida and Costa Rica. Starting November 5, just in time for winter travel from the U.S., the airline will operate a daily connection between the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the Juan Santamaria International Airport in San José, Costa Rica. To celebrate this new r...

As a result of the recent visit of the Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solís and the Minister of Tourism Mauricio Ventura to Spain, an agreement was signed with the Spanish aviation company Iberia to promote Costa Rica to the Italian market. Iberia will be using two direct flights Milan-Madrid and Roma-Madrid to connect both cities and their travelers with San José, Costa Rica; in order to ...

Costa Rican carrier Sansa, which runs mainly domestic flights within Costa Rica, experienced technical problems this morning when landing at the Juan Santamaría International Airport in Alajuela, according to reports in Costa Rica's main Spanish daily La Nación. The craft, which was carrying 13 passengers, went off the runway at around 9 a.m. The fire department and other emergency officials we...

Twenty flights were rerouted over the weekend from San José's International Airport (SJO) due to electrical problems. Civil Aviation Officials concluded that a combination of old wiring and lightening affected the electrical cables along the airport runway, causing them to malfunction Friday. The airport was then closed again Saturday evening as technicians attempted to solve the problem. Fo...

The Zurich-based Swiss airline, Edelweiss Air, which operates flights to many European cities, North America, Asia, North Africa and the Caribbean, will start offering direct travel to and from Costa Rica May 9, said Enio Cubillo, director general of Costa Rica's Civil Aviation Department. The plans were announced last year by the President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solis, and the Ministe...

In just two years the number of airlines connecting Costa Rica to Europe went from one (Iberia) to now six. Iberia, Air France, Condor, British Airways, Edelweiss and KLM are the companies that are now connecting Costa Rica to different European destinations. KLM was the most recent airline to offer direct flights, this time between San José and Amsterdam. The fact that KLM is opening the do...

Even though flying from Costa Rica to other countries within the Central American region involves a very short flight, data from the Central American Integration Secretariat (SIECA) shows that this region is not preferred among Costa Rican travelers just the same as this country is not the preferred destination for other Central Americans. The data provided by SIECA indicates that out of all th...

The expansion of the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste had been announced by the Costa Rica Tourism Institute since late 2016. The expansion involves 4,118 square meters (44,326 square feet) 17%, and is expected to be concluded in November this year. The work being done should increase the capacity of the Liberia Airport enabling the attention of at least 300 thousand m...

Less than a month after starting operations, budget airline Volaris is considering adding a route to Nicaragua, said José Adán Aguerri, president of Nicaragua’s Superior Private Business Council (Cosep). The airline has expressed an interest in starting a flights between San José, Costa Rica and the colonial lake-side city of Granada, Nicaragua located in the southern part of the country. "V...

Copa Airlines announced they will offer the only nonstop direct airline service between Denver, Colorado and Panama, with convenient connections to more than 55 destinations in Central America, South America and the Caribbean through the airline’s Panama hub. The service will consist of four weekly flights between Denver and Panama beginning Dec. 11, 2017. Denver will be Copa's 13th U.S. de...

The Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM, annoucend today they will start flying directly to Costa Rica later this year. Two weekly direct flights connecting Amsterdam and San José, Costa Rica will be served by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, the most modern aircraft in the KLM fleet, said the airline. The flights will operate from October 31, 2017 until March, for the duration of Europe’s winter season. ...

Southwest Airlines says Volaris Costa Rica’s application for permits to start U.S. flights should be discounted as they claim Volaris doesn't fulfill ownership requirements under the existing U.S.-Costa Rica air transport agreement, as reported in airline industry news recently. The Dallas-based airline file an objection with the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT), arguing that the bilateral ...

A Utah man and his fiancée say they got the booted from a United flight Saturday out of Houston en route to their Costa Rica wedding after changing seats, reported local Utah media, the New York Daily News, and other national media outlets. The company has been spotlighted for a series of recent customer service disasters in recent weeks, including an incident where a 69-year-old doctor was dra...

After several weeks of relative inactivity, Cartago's Turrialba Volcano started puffing out ash again starting a few days ago, reported the National University's Seismology and Volcanology Observatory (Ovsicori-UNA). Over the past several weeks, the volcano has been emitting vapor and gas, but very little ash, in what has become a fairly regular pattern for the Turrialbla - periods of calm punc...

Almost 300 Ticos that were traveling to Mexico for the Costa Rica – Mexico soccer game got stranded at the Juan Santamaría airport in Costa Rica. The majority of them purchased a travel package with travel agency Continental Travels back in October of 2016 that included the airline ticket, accommodations, tours in Mexico City and the tickets for the Costa Rica vs. Mexico soccer game that takes ...

The Panamanian Tourism Authority (ATP, its initials in Spanish) announced this week they are considering reactivating a medical insurance option offered for free to visitors to the Central American country, said the government entity. The consideration to reopen the program comes in the wake of the killing of a taxi driver Tuesday, March 14 in the early morning hours in which two Canadians were...

Costa Rica is a very small country, and going from one place to the other should be a matter of a few hours, however, the different road infrastructure problems that affect certain communities, the heavy traffic during peak seasons and sometimes just the convenience of saving time, has made domestic flights a great option for nationals and foreigners. During 2015 Nature Air provided domestic tr...

Air France announced today that thanks to the successful operation of its existing Costa Rica-France route, the airline will be expanding to three flights a week for its 2017-2018 season starting at the end of October. Its 2016-2017 season surpassed 32,000 reservations for an average flight occupancy of over 80 percent. The Air France flights have increased French tourism to Costa Rica by an es...

The Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) is taking part in the ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel show located at the Messe Convention Center in Berlin, Germany. Ground staff strikes at two Berlin airports on Friday forced airline operations to cancel 659 flights, according to official statements. Some 2,000 employees have been convoked to follow a 25-hour strike from 4:00 am local time (3.00 ...

Four new boarding gates, an airplane taxiway on the south side of the landing strip, a carousel for luggage and the expansion of the lobby are part of the projects that AERIS, the company in charge of the Juan Santamaría Airport since 2009, has planned. The airport will receive an investment of $100 million USD starting in May of this year and through the following two years, to improve its inf...

According to the advice from an experienced travel agent, the best time to buy airline tickets are Tuesday and Wednesday nights; that being said when it is high season in Costa Rica it is hard to find cheap airline tickets, but today might be your lucky day, if you are suffering with the harsh winter or you simply need to get away, this is the perfect time for you to escape to sunny paradise and ...

The Costa Rican airline, Air Costa Rica, began operations this Friday in the modality of charter flights. This first flight, contracted by a travel agency, had 89 passengers on board and flew to Rio Hato, Panama. Air Costa Rica’s financial director (CFO), Carlos José Víquez, explained that due to the large number of “low cost” airlines operating in the region, Air Costa Rica has decided to star...

-- With over 2.9 million visitors in 2016, tourism in Costa Rica grew 10 percent over 2015. By Wendy Anders The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT, its Spanish acronym) just released its data on last year’s tourist arrivals to the Central American country, and things are looking good. Costa Rica registered nearly 270 thousand more visitors in 2016 than in 2015, for a notable 10 percent in...

The groundhog Phil, the world's most famous weather-predicting animal, on Thursday forecast six more weeks of winter in the United States before the attentive gaze of numerous spectators and reporters who gathered to observe the traditional annual prognostication, now in its 131st year. Each Feb. 2 since 1887, the public in the western Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney, has climbed the small hi...

By Wendy Anders If you’re planning to bring more than $10,000 in cash or securities into Costa Rica on your next trip, be sure to declare it on your customs form, said Costa Rican customs officials yesterday. This oversight by a 70-year-old U.S. man, who was heading to the beach in Costa Rica, cost him US$19,900, said the Finance Ministry’s Customs Department. The man, who entered the Dan...

Passport Index presented its Global Passport Power Rank 2017 which basically ranks passports of the world according to their total visa-free score. The study included 199 countries. The country with the best passport in the world is Germany, holders of a German passport can visit 158 countries without the need of a Visa or getting the Visa upon arrival. Sweden and Singapore tied in second ...

Rio de Janeiro, Jan. 17 — Brazilian health authorities are on alert after the outbreak of yellow fever, with 47 cases detected in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais and given the risk that it could spread to nearby areas where possible cases are starting to be detected.The Health Ministry confirmed Tuesday that 152 suspected cases of the disease have been detected in 26 municipalities in rural...

By Wendy Anders The Guardian’s recently announced 2017 travel photography competition gives readers the chance to win a fantastic 16-night wildlife holiday for two to Costa Rica with Exodus Travels – and see the photos from the trip published in Guardian Travel, reported the U.K. paper Friday. Guardian Travel’s monthly readers’ photography competition is an opportunity for amateurs and profe...

Millennials have a different outlook on life, enjoying every day to the fullest is one of their goals, and doing new things and having different experiences are certainly part of the lifestyle of this generation. If new and amazing experiences is what you are looking for, here’s a few options you might find fun and that are certainly a unique way to explore the wonders Costa Rica offers… but, ...

By Wendy Anders Amidst flight delays due to ashfall in Costa Rica in recent days, Air Canada took the cake early this week for disrupting hundreds of passengers' plans due to a problem with the head count on board. Ken Joy posted on Facebook from Toronto, Canada at 11:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9 that he had finally made it home. He managed to have some good cheer left after facing over a day’s...

Several new self-named “low-cost” airlines began operations in Costa Rica this past year, and currently there is a total of eight offering their services in the country and covering different routes: Spirit, JetBlue, WestJet, Southwest, Volaris, Interjet, Wingo and Veca Airlines. Having options is a good thing, certainly, and when it comes to traveling many try to save as much as possible in ti...

Havana, Jan. 6 — The U.S. airline Alaska Air began flying commercially to Cuba Thursday with daily flights linking Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles, California with the Cuban capital of La Havana, following the resumption of regular flights between the two countries in August 2016 after half a century. The new route makes Alaska Air the eighth airline authorized to operate regular flights to...

By Wendy Anders Media around the world are taken by an exceptional nine-minute Chilean Navy video of a UFO displaying highly unusual behavior, studied by Chilean authorities for the last two years, and now released to the public. The CEFAA - the Chilean government agency which investigates UFOs, or UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena), has been in charge of the investigation. Located within t...

Miami, Jan. 6 — The man who fatally shot five people and wounded eight others Friday at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) appears to have acted alone, authorities said, stressing that it was too early to say whether the motive was terrorism. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told a press conference at the scene that the shooter offered no resistance when officers arrested ...

Avianca Airlines is offering a promotion to Miami as of January 5th and through January 31, all passengers traveling from San Jose, Costa Rica will have the opportunity to purchase tickets at a preferential rate of $279 USD, taxes included. Tickets purchased with this promotion can be used between February 1st and June 15, 2017, and the limit date to complete the trip is June 30. This promotion...

By Wendy Anders Costa Rica’s Turrialba Volcano erupted at 5:50 a.m. today, Wednesday, January 4, sending a large plume of ash and gas westward as strong gusts of wind race out of the east across the country. Dozens of flights from mid-morning onward have been cancelled or delayed, but only on certain airlines, and the capital’s Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is open and function...

By Wendy Anders Time to act if you want to nab some low fares on Southwest air which flies daily from several U.S. cities into the northern Liberia, Costa Rica airport or the San José capital airport. A 21-day advance purchase is necessary, says the airline on their site, and these low fares are available for purchase only until January 26, 2017, 11:59 p.m. in the respective time zone of the...

By Wendy Anders On New Year’s Eve day, a pilot for Canada’s Sunwing airlines was arrested after being discovered drunk on the plane he was to have flown from Calgary, in western Canada, to the Mexican city of Cancun, reported AFP. The pilot, a 37-year-old man, fainted before taking off, and was taken off the plane and stopped by Calgary police at around 7:00 a.m., continued AFP. The airli...