Guanacaste Airport
Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR) Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quirós | |||||||||||
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| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Dirección General de Aviación Civil | ||||||||||
| Location | Liberia, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 82 m / 269 ft | ||||||||||
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  MRLB Location in Costa Rica | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2010) | |||||||||||
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Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (Template:Lang-es) (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.[2]
History
The idea for an airport in the province of Guanacaste was initially conceived during the government of Daniel Oduber Quirós (1974–1978).[3] The airport was initially named "Llano Grande", due to the name of the area that it was built in.[3] 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.[3] Also a firefighter station was added to comply with FAA and international regulations.[4] 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.[5]
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.[6] 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.[6] Also in 2007 a new waiting area and airport counters were opened,[7] the airport was by then receiving more than 180,000 visitors yearly.[7]
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[8] 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 October 19, 2010. The terminal opened on January 12, 2012.[9]
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Air Canada | Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau |
| Air Canada Rouge | Toronto-Pearson |
| Air Transat | Seasonal: Edmonton, 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 |
| Sun Country Airlines | Seasonal: Dallas/Fort Worth, Minneapolis/St. Paul |
| Sunwing Airlines | Toronto-Pearson Seasonal: Montréal-Trudeau, Edmonton |
| Thomson Airways | London-Gatwick |
| United Airlines | Houston-Intercontinental Seasonal: Chicago-O'Hare, Denver (begins 19 December 2015),[10] Newark |
| WestJet | Toronto-Pearson Seasonal: Calgary (begins December 19, 2015) |
Charter Flights
- Aviones Taxi Aereo S. A. (San Jose, Costa Rica) telf: +(506)2431-0160, www.airchartercentralamerica.com
References
- ^ AIP - Part 3 Aerodromes
- ^ La Nación. Liberia espera alza superior al 10% anual en el número de pasajeros
- ^ a b c Barahona, Hazel (1996-05-27). "Aeropuerto de Liberia aún no despega". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica.
- ^ Sánchez Quirós, Olger Rafael. "Historia del Cuerpo de Bomberos del Aeropuerto Internacional Daniel Oduber Quirós Liberia Guanacaste" (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- ^ Mora, Emilia (1997-01-19). "Liberia despega". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica.
- ^ a b Rodríguez, Rebeca (2006-04-27). "Aeropuerto de Liberia con mayor espacio para aviones". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica.
- ^ a b Rodríguez, Rebeca (2007-03-23). "Gobierno inaugura obras en aeropuerto de Liberia". La Nacion (in Spanish). Costa Rica.
- ^ ADC & HAS
- ^ Alvarado, Karla Arias. "At last, the new Liberia airport terminal opens for business". TicoTimes.net. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
- ^ "United Airlines confirms Costa Rica-Denver seasonal flights starting in December". Retrieved 15 June 2015.
External links
- Liberia Costa Rica Airport (LIR) - Flight Status information.
- NEW LIR Terminal Facebook Page