In a ceremony that took place at Juan Santamar…
In a ceremony that took place at Juan Santamaría International Airport, the inaugural direct flight from Iberia had an official reception in Costa Rica . This act counted with the participation of representatives from the national tourist industry such as tour operators, who came in this flight from Europe as well as high level agents of the airline.
In his inaugural speech, the Minister of Tourism, Rodrigo A. Castro Fonseca, highlighted the benefits to be received from these direct flights, both for Costa Rican tourist development as for the Central American integration of that sector.
In our case, said Castro, we hope that with direct air operations “we expect European tourism to grow between 25 and 30% this year”.
Iberia`s Commercial Director, Manuel Lopez, pointed out the leader`s role played by Costa Rica for tourism at the Central American level. He explained it`s a direct flight from Europe, and not Madrid. “It`s not rhetorical, because we expect to have, 50% or more passengers coming and going from the rest of Europe, as can happen with most of our flights to Latin America.”
Al Romeou, form Alterra Partners, said that these direct flights would mean a great benefit to Costa Rican tourist development, and great benefits to the Central American region.
He emphasized the joint work carried out with the Costa Rican Tourist Board to attract new flights has been very positive. He recalled that since May of 2001, when that company started to manage the airport, 14 new flights have been inaugurated and have welcomed seven airlines. He also explained that to this moment, movement of passengers (arrivals and departures) from Santamaría Airport has grown by 20% in relation to the same period of 2003.
One of the tourists arriving to the country on this flight, the Swiss, Eva Fuchs, who traveled from Zurich to spend two weeks in Costa Rica, said that it`s a much better option to have direct flights, since passing by the United States has become more complicated.
Iberia uses for this air operation, an AIRBUS A-320 with capacity for 250 passengers. Tickets cost 750 dollars, and given the success had by this flight from the very beginning, the company is considering the possibility of changing the type of airplane by middle of this month, to one with capacity for 350 passengers.
Schedules are as follows:
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