Juan Santamaría International Airport

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Juan Santamaría International Airport Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría

IATA: SJO - ICAO: MROC
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Dirección General de Aviacion Civil
Serves		San José, Costa Rica
Elevation AMSL		3,021 ft (921 m)
Coordinates		09°59′37″N, 84°12′31″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
07/25	9,881	3,012	Asphalt

Juan Santamaría International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría) (IATA: SJO, ICAO: MROC) is located 20 km from San José, Costa Rica. It is named after Juan Santamaría, a courageous drummer boy who died in 1856 defending his country against forces led by American adventurer William Walker. The airport, which is Costa Rica's primary airport, serves about one million people each year, a great number of them tourists from Canada and the United States. There are three other international airports in the country but only the Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia, Guanacaste is served by major airlines.

Alajuela, the birthplace of Juan Santamaría, is located 3 km from the airport.

The airport serves as a hub for TACA/Lacsa for its international network and for TACA's subsidiary Sansa for its domestic network. It also provides services for other airlines flying to the United States, Latin America and Europe.

The airport has the usual assortment of duty-free shops. It also has a food court that includes three fast-food restaurants.

Juan Santamaria International has been operated by Alterra Partners since 2001 as part of a plan to improve the airport by the Costa Rican government. The relationship between Alterra and the government has been difficult and this situation has delayed the modernization plans.

Juan Santamaria charges a $26 USD departure tax which can be paid in cash (U.S. dollars or Costa Rican colones) or by Visa (Master Card and Amex are not accepted).

[edit] Ground Transportation

There is a bus stop outside the airport. The Alajuela-San José route buses stop there in both directions. Buses from other routes also stop there, but you might have to change buses to get to the city center.

Taxis charge US$14 and upward for trips to San José, with some unlicensed taxis charging considerably more. Taxis will generally accept both colones and U.S. dollars, but not other currencies. Licensed taxis are orange.

There is an ATM at the baggage claim area (VISA, MasterCard) and another in the second level by the curbside of the entrance to departures (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) that dispenses colones and US dollars.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

Air Canada (Toronto-Pearson)
Air Madrid (Madrid, Panama City)
Air Transat (Montreal, Toronto-Pearson) [all seasonal]
American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami)
Condor Airlines (Frankfurt)
Continental Airlines (Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
Copa Airlines (Guatemala City, Managua, Panama City, San Pedro Sula, Santiago de Chile, Tegucigalpa)
Cubana de Aviación (Havana)
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta)
Iberia (Guatemala City, Madrid)
Martinair (Miami, Orlando)
Mexicana (Mexico City)
Sansa (Barra Colorado, Drake Bay, Golfito, Liberia, Limon, Nosara, Coto47, Punta Islita, Puerto Jimenez, Samara-Carrillo, Palmar Sur, Tambor, Tamarindo, Tortuguero, Quepos)
TACA (Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Chicago-O'Hare, Guatemala City, Guayaquil, Havana, Lima, Los Angeles, Managua, Mexico City, Miami, New York-JFK, Panama City, Quito, San Pedro Sula, San Salvador and Toronto-Pearson)
US Airways (Charlotte)
- US Airways operated by America West Airlines (Phoenix)