Tourism and economic reactivation of the district of Drake in the Osa Península begins to show growth after an increase in the number of flights and passengers since the Drake airfield started operations in January.

According to Guillermo Hoppe, General Director of Civil Aviation, the number of passengers using the new airfield during the first seven months of this year is of 12,727 almost double the amount of the entire last year which was of 6,525.

In average, the visitation tripled from 543 a month last year to 1,818 from January to July 2019. The total number of flights in the first six months this year was of 1,686 versus 1,073 in twelve months of 2018.

“We are capable of positively impacting the lives of many people through projects that potentiate tourism and economic reactivation in rural areas. We consider that the visitation to this area will increase even more, which demonstrates that the investment in aeronautic infrastructure is revitalizing the economy in the country”, commented Hoppe.

“Connectivity and the reduction of travel times through the modernization of the airfields in the country will better the experience of visitors and will encourage them to spend more time in the country and want to come back”.

The investment in the Drake airfield was of almost $5.9 million USD.

Other important investments are being made in the airfields of Palmar Sur, Pérez Zeledón and Golfito.