Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport

"Liberia International Airport" redirects here. For the international airport serving the Republic of Liberia, see Roberts International Airport.
Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR)
Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quirós
IATA: LIR – ICAO: MRLB
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Dirección General de Aviación Civil
Location Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
Elevation AMSL 82 m / 269 ft
Coordinates 10°35′35″N 085°32′44″W / 10.59306°N 85.54556°W / 10.59306; -85.54556Coordinates: 10°35′35″N 085°32′44″W / 10.59306°N 85.54556°W / 10.59306; -85.54556
Map
MRLB

Location in Costa Rica

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
07/25 2,750 9,022 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 888,227
Passenger change 14–15 Increase13.9%

Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (Spanish: Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quirós) (IATA: LIR, ICAO: MRLB), also known as Liberia International Airport, is one of four international airports in Costa Rica. The airport is located in the city of Liberia in Guanacaste Province. It serves specially as a tourism hub for those who visit the Pacific coast and Western Costa Rica. The airport is considered the "gateway" to the Costa Rican Riviera often called the Golden Coast. The airport is named for Daniel Oduber Quirós, who served as president of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978. The airport is just 30 minutes away from the Papagayo Gulf (Four Seasons Pagapayo, Hilton Papagayo, Occidental Papagayo) and 45 minutes to an hour from the other resorts like Westin Playa Cochal, RIU Guanacaste, Tamarindo Diria, Witch's Rock Surf Camp and JW Marriott at Hacienda Pinilla.

Daniel Oduber Quirós International airport is the country's second and Central America's ninth busiest airport. In 2010, Liberia International Airport reported 443,585 passengers, a 16% increase compared to 2009.[3]

History

The idea for an airport in the province of Guanacaste was initially conceived during the government of Daniel Oduber Quirós (1974–1978).[4] The airport was initially named "Llano Grande", due to the name of the area that it was built in.[4] It would later be named "Aeropuerto Tomas Guardia", and the last name it received is that of ex-president Daniel Oduber Quirós, in honour of his work for the province of Guanacaste. However, most people call it "Liberia International Airport".

In October 1995 the airport was re-inaugurated as an international airport. To support this expansion of operations, the pavement on the runway was redone and special landing lights were installed.[4] Also a firefighter station was added to comply with FAA and international regulations.[5] Initial response from commercial airlines to the expansion was timid; however, after one year the airport went from having only one weekly charter flight to one almost every day.[6]

In 2006, to manage increased demand of the airport, the government and local tourism chamber boards set aside funds to increase the parking capacity of the tarmac from five to eight airplanes, and for the construction of a parallel taxiway.[7] However, the government made it clear that the solutions were only temporary and that a private company would need to be contracted to expand and operate the airport in the future.[7] Also in 2007 a new waiting area and airport counters were opened,[8] the airport was by then receiving more than 180,000 visitors yearly.[8]

New terminal building and operator

The government of Costa Rica awarded CORIPORT, S.A., a 20-year concession to design, finance, construct and operate a new terminal building and its associated landside facilities, as well as approximately 36,000 m2 (390,000 sq ft) of airport land currently occupied by the existing terminal and associated facilities. CORIPORT's shareholders include MMM Aviation Group, Emperador Pez Espada S.R.L., Inversiones Cielo Claro LTDA, Cocobolo Inversiones S.R.L., and ADC&HAS Airports Worldwide[9] who is also the project's operator.

The new terminal building, encompassing approximately 23,000 m2 (250,000 sq ft), will feature a contemporary design that both increases efficiency and capacity over the existing facility. Construction started on 19 October 2010. The terminal opened on 12 January 2012.[10]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinations
Air Canada Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau
Air Canada Rouge Toronto-Pearson
Air Transat Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson
Alaska Airlines Los Angeles
American Airlines Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami
Avianca El Salvador San Salvador
Copa Airlines Panama City
Delta Air Lines Atlanta
Seasonal: Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK
JetBlue Airways New York-JFK
Seasonal: Boston
Nature Air San José de Costa Rica, Tamarindo
Sansa Airlines San José de Costa Rica
Southwest Airlines Baltimore, Houston-Hobby, Los Angeles (begins 5 April 2016)[11]
Sun Country Airlines Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul
Sunwing Airlines Toronto-Pearson
Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau
Thomson Airways London-Gatwick
United Airlines Houston-Intercontinental
Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Newark
WestJet Toronto-Pearson
Seasonal: Calgary
Xtra Airways[12] Seasonal Charter: Chicago-O'Hare

Passenger Statistics

These data show number of passengers movements into the airport, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Costa Rica's Statistical Yearbooks.

Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Passengers 442,902 396,188 311,009 539,610 668,762 680,355 779,757 888,227
Growth (%) Increase 4.62% Decrease 10.55% Decrease 21.50% Increase 73.50% Increase 23.93% Increase 1.73% Increase 14.61% Increase 13.91%
Source: Costa Rica's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC). Statistical Yearbooks
(Years 2008,[13] 2009,[14] 2010,[15] 2011,[16] 2012,[17] 2013,[18] 2014,[19] and 2015[2])
Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Passengers 91,206 87,145 61,948 98,495 203,823 303,171 391,567 423,327
Growth (%) N.A. Decrease 4.45% Decrease 28.91% Increase 59.00% Increase 106.94% Increase 48.74% Increase 29.16% Increase 8.11%
Source: Costa Rica's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC). Statistical Yearbooks
(Years 2000-2005,[20] 2006,[21] and 2007,[22])

References

  1. ↑ Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) of Costa Rica, Section III (Airstrips)
  2. 1 2 DGAC. Aumenta cifra de pasajeros en aeropuertos de Costa Rica
  3. ↑ La Nación. Liberia espera alza superior al 10% anual en el número de pasajeros
  4. 1 2 3 Barahona, Hazel (1996-05-27). "Aeropuerto de Liberia aún no despega". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  5. ↑ Sánchez Quirós, Olger Rafael. "Historia del Cuerpo de Bomberos del Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quirós Liberia Guanacaste" (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  6. ↑ Mora, Emilia (1997-01-19). "Liberia despega". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  7. 1 2 Rodríguez, Rebeca (2006-04-27). "Aeropuerto de Liberia con mayor espacio para aviones". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  8. 1 2 Rodríguez, Rebeca (2007-03-23). "Gobierno inaugura obras en aeropuerto de Liberia". La Nacion (in Spanish) (Costa Rica).
  9. ↑ ADC & HAS
  10. ↑ Alvarado, Karla Arias. "At last, the new Liberia airport terminal opens for business". TicoTimes.net. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  11. ↑ http://airwaysnews.com/blog/2015/12/14/southwest-to-launch-lax-international-flight/
  12. ↑ "Chicago, IL Flight Schedule". Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  13. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2008
  14. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2009
  15. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2010
  16. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2011
  17. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2012
  18. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2013
  19. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2014
  20. ↑ Oficina de Planificación, Dirección General de Aviación Civil de Costa Rica
  21. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2006
  22. ↑ DGAC. Anuario Estadístico del Transporte Aéreo, 2007

External links

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