International Airport in Southern Costa Rica

The paradise like Southern Pacific Coastline of Costa Rica, known as Costa Ballena, will soon be made more accessible than ever due to the scheduled construction of a third international airport. At the present time, Costa Rica’s two international airports are located towards the north of the country, in San Jose’s Central Valley and Liberia in the Guanacaste Province.

The opening of the Liberia airport created an unparalleled investment boom in the Tamarindo area, as money flooded in to support the new tourism and vacation homes. It is expected the opening of the airport in Palmar will yield the same type of activity in the southern zone.

Airport Construction

The Civil Aviation Technical Council(CTAC) has stated the airport in Palmar Sur will be open and operational by 2010. The airport is to be built the valley between the districts of Sierpe and Palmar, and will be built and operated by a private company. The first phase will consist of a 5000 square foot terminal building supporting basic airline check-in and food concession services. An 1800 meter long by 30 meter wide runway is slated for phase 1, capable of landing 50 person passenger planes.

Phase 2 construction plans will extend the length of the runway to 2900 meters, accommodating the landing of larger passenger plans such as the Boeing 737. It is anticipated that, when complete the new airport will have a runway 3500 meters in length by 60 meters in width to support the landing of widebody aircraft such as the Boeing 747 or Airbus A-340. These dimensions, if kept to, will make runway of the Palmar international airport 500 meters longer and 15 meters wider than the landing surface of the Juan Santamaría international airport in San Jose. These dimensions would also permit the use of this airport by the Airbus A380, currently the largest passenger plane in the world.

Location

The new airport is expected to drive and support the surge in tourism recently experienced in the southern costa rica. It’s central location supports access to the popular national parks in the area, including the Corcovado forest reserve on the Osa peninsula, the Manuel Antonio park in Quepos, and the Ballena marine park near playa Uvita.

Popular destinations such as San Isidro, Dominical, Ojochal, and Puerto Jimenez are all less than an hour drive from the proposed site. The new cruise ship port and marina being built in Golfito will also be easily reachable.