By Wendy Anders

Zurich, Switzerland is the latest European destination to offer a direct flight to San José, Costa Rica’s Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO).

Starting May 2017, Edelweiss Air will offer twice-weekly non-stop service on Tuesday and Friday, the airline stated in a press release last week.  Edelweiss is a member of the Lufthansa Group and an affiliate of Swiss International Air Lines.

Air France recently announced they will begin flying direct from Paris to San José, Costa Rica on November 2, 2016.

And in May, British Airways launched a new 11-hour non-stop flight from London’s Gatwick to San José. During Europe’s summer months British airway flights operate on Wednesday and Saturday; in winter, flights will operate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Mauricio Ventura, Costa Rica’s tourism minister, said in a press statement: “British Airways’ new service from Costa Rica to the United Kingdom is wonderful news … In the last 12 months alone we have seen an increase of 12.9 per cent of tourists from the United Kingdom visiting Costa Rica, staying an average of two weeks.”

These airlines compliment Condor’s long standing weekly flights from SJO to Frankfurt, Germany via Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Passengers should take note of new airport security regulations which have caused delays, and in some cases, as recently reported in Costa Rica’s Spanish daily La Nación, lines spilling out of the main terminal. All carry-on luggage is being hand-checked for liquids, gels and aerosols.

Costa Rica’s Civil Aviation Directorate has established the following guidelines for passengers:

Liquids, gels and aerosols in carry-on luggage, unless purchased inside the airport beyond the security check, must be in containers no greater than 3.4 ounces (100 ml), and be packed individually in transparent, hermetically sealed (zip-lock), 8” x 7”, 1 liter or quarter-gallon bags.

These items must be removed from carry-on luggage for inspection when requested. The same requirements apply to non-prescription medications.

Baby formula, special liquids for infants, prescription medications, and other special health-related gels, liquids or sprays must be reported to security officials if they are unable to be sealed, packed in the 1 liter bags, or are greater than 100ml in volume. These will be manually checked and allowances will be made under reasonable circumstances, as stated in the Directorate’s written regulations which went into effect April 19.